It didn’t budge. Of course it didn’t. So, he stepped away from the door, still without really looking at Everly, and she wondered why he was so unnerved by her ability to open doors here.
She wondered if she should be more unnerved.
Everly stepped forward and felt the lock click open beneath her hand.
Inside, the room was empty.
Of course it was. Why wouldn’t it have been, Everly tried to chastise her racing heart. Of course Richard would lead them here, to a room with nothing but walls.
Walls. She could see the walls. In her mind’s eye, though, she also saw something else.
A different wall.
Blink and the image vanished, but then blink again and it was back, and even though she knew it wasn’t real, it felt real enough to draw her forward, to cause her to raise a hand and reach up, to where the wall should have opened.
“Everly?” she heard Luca say distantly, from somewhere far, far behind her. Far, far away.
“There’s something behind here,” she said in a voice that even in her own ears didn’t sound right. She shook that thought away. Her hand hovered a fraction of an inch away from the surface of the back wall of the empty room.
Luca came up beside her, and though she didn’t turn to look at him, she could feel his eyes on her. “Are you sure?” he asked. “How do you know?”
Everly shook her head slightly, staring straight ahead. “I don’t know.”
Her palm landed flat on the smooth surface of the back wall.
Nothing.
And then, a second later, the telltale sound of a lock clicking into place, and a door sprung open where before there had been nothing but a blank wall, its outline now carved undeniably into the surface in front of her and Luca.
Blink and Everly was back, standing next to Luca again, with only the single image of the door she had just opened in front of her. She swallowed thickly and walked forward, ignoring Luca’s eyes that she knew were still on her.
Everly edged into the space beyond, aware of Luca following. Inside, it was bright red—bloody red, almost—in a way that attacked Everly’s eyes, which had become so acclimated to the poorly lit space of the dark halls outside. She was squinting, waiting for her eyes to adjust, to stop swimming in red, when she heard Luca’s breath hitch beside her, and then he was running. Everly blinked into the light, and slowly she began to make sense of the scene around her, to see what made Luca bolt.
It was Caleb. He was lying flat on his back, strapped to a metal table. Unconscious.
But alive.
Luca was by his side, trying to find a way to undo the restraints that pinned his arms and legs down to the table. Everly could only watch, limbs frozen.
Caleb heaved in a sharp breath.
Luca flinched away, then drew closer, brow lifting in concern as he looked down at his friend. The heaving turned into coughing and then, miraculously, Caleb opened his eyes.
“Took you long enough.”
The voice was raspy and thick with disuse. It took Everly a second to register the voice, to realize that it was coming from the table, from the lanky young man who was still lying on top of it. “I thought heroes were supposed to be more punctual than that.”
Caleb was grinning now, craning his neck to look first at Luca, and then over at Everly. Luca had visibly sagged with relief next to Caleb, redoubling his efforts to free Caleb from his restraints.
Everly took another step closer to Caleb’s side. “Caleb,” she breathed out, taking him in.
“Nice to see you again, Everly.” Upon closer inspection, Everly saw that Caleb looked exhausted—face sallow with dark shadows painted under each eye. He tried to hide it, smiling brightly at Everly when she reached his side. “How have you been?”
“I’ve been all right,” Everly said, smiling down at him, glad, if nothing else, to have found him still alive. “Seen better days. Though I imagine you’d say my day has been a walk in the park compared to yours.”
“Wouldn’t know,” he said. “I’ve never been to a park.”
Everly rolled her eyes, but her grin remained. On the other side of Caleb, she saw as Luca finally managed to undo the last of his restraints—the straps springing free on either side of him. Gingerly, Caleb lifted himself into a sitting position, offering Luca a grateful smile. Luca was looking at Caleb, his face serious but with a glimmer of hope in his eyes.
“Are you okay?” Luca asked in a low voice. “Really okay? They haven’t hurt you, have they?”
Caleb’s smile grew, but also tightened somewhat, Everly thought. “Aww, look Everly, he’s worried about me.”
Finally, Luca grinned back. “Come on,” he said. “We’re getting you out of here.”
Caleb seemed to lose some of his humor, strain carving deeper lines around the edges of his face.
“There’s something you should know,” Caleb said in a soft voice. Luca froze, his hands halfway down to Caleb, to help him stand up. “I’m really sorry, but I think you were too late. They—the runners—they injected me with something. A toxin of some sort, I think. They told me it wouldn’t hurt. And—and that it would be fast.”
Everly and Luca could only stare at him, not willing to process what he had just said. “But,” Luca said after a moment, “you’re fine. You look perfectly fine. So, it must not have worked. Or maybe you heard wrong, and they haven’t given you the toxin yet.” But Caleb was shaking his head sadly.
“I can feel it, Luca,” Caleb whispered. “There’s not much more time left.”
Neither Luca nor Everly spoke. Everly watched Luca watching his friend. They hadn’t made it in time after all. Luca was blinking fast, avoiding meeting Everly’s eye.
“No, there has to be a way to stop it,” Luca said roughly. “An antidote or a way to slow down the toxin or something.” He gripped Caleb’s shoulder, eyes fierce. “We just found you. I am not going to let you die.”
Caleb lifted his hand to put over Luca’s, but he began hacking inconsolably, and had to turn aside to cover it up. Luca’s face fell, his dark eyes, once so hard and defiant, now on the verge of softening.
