by Tess Adair
At her words, Jude felt a glimmer of warmth in her chest.
“Honestly?” She turned to face the other, shrugging in her helplessness. “I’m terrified that the next corner we turn, we’re gonna run right into the Loch Ness monster or something.”
Eliana lowered her hands, a small smile playing on her lips.
“I wouldn’t worry about that if I were you,” she said gently. “Nessie is quite peaceful.”
Jude smiled, then immediately balked.
“Uh—that’s a joke, right? I mean, there’s no such thing as—”
“Wait—do you hear that?”
Eliana turned on a dime, her expression immediately serious as she faced forward again. The path ahead of them was darker than the one they’d left behind; the lattice stretched across the top to form a trellis tunnel, and Jude couldn’t see more than a few feet into it.
“I can’t hear any—”
But she stopped. She could hear something—or, rather, someone.
And they were screaming.
“Come on!” cried Eliana, immediately breaking into a run. After a moment of frozen shock, Jude followed, willing her legs into motion as fast as they would go.
Within moments, her adrenaline kicked in again. She was already lagging behind, but as the scream sounded one more time, she felt a burst of energy rush through her body, nearly bringing her up to speed with Eliana.
That didn’t last long, of course. She kept pace for several strides, but in the end, she was no match for the newly bound. Eliana pulled ahead once more.
It’s okay, she told herself. I won’t get left behind, just as long as I don’t—
Before she could finish the thought, she tripped and fell.
Eliana didn’t seem to notice. She zoomed along without pause, and before Jude could even climb back to standing, she was gone—gone around a bend, swallowed up by the foliage.
Jude turned down the same corner she was certain Eliana had taken, but the other was nowhere to be seen. It was almost like she had stepped right out of existence.
With no clear idea of what she should do next, Jude let herself skid to a stop. She couldn’t even hear Fisher screaming anymore, and she was starting to doubt she’d ever heard him to begin with. Her own heartbeat sounded like a war drum inside her ears.
I’m alone.
She turned back around and tried to retrace her steps. Maybe Eliana had simply gone a different way. She ran farther down the path, looking for the next turn—but there wasn’t one. The trellis tunnel kept going and going and going—
Until it finally, impossibly, came to an end. The tunnel ended in a wall. There was no way to go except the turn she’d taken before—the turn that had not revealed Eliana’s shrinking form.
But what else was there to do? She went back to the turn.
She didn’t know how long she could keep running, and she no longer believed that there was anything to run from, or to, so her pace slowed. She turned back down that same corner, and, predictably, Eliana was not there.
I’m alone.
Devoid of other options, Jude kept on down this new path. She made herself take deep, slow breaths, even though every single particle of her being told her to panic. If ever there was a time for it, that time was now.
No, stop it. Everything is fine. It’s not even that bad; I just need to calm down. Everything could be so much worse. I mean, at least I know I’m safe from the Wolf.
No sooner had she formed the thought than her memory conjured up the sound of his terrible, wheezing laughter. Except…was it a memory?
Jude froze in her tracks.
The laughter was real, and it was coming from right behind her.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Fly in the Ointment
Jude was running again, faster than she’d ever run before. How could the Wolf be here, now? Logan had been afraid he would show himself at the Summit, but during the party? Surely, if that had been a real danger, Logan would never have let her run off with people they didn’t know.
But I wanted her to trust me, she thought desperately, still pushing her body forward at top speed. God, how could I be so stupid?
But maybe if the Wolf was here, then Logan could help her—except she had no idea how to reach Logan. The last time she’d seen her, she’d promptly disappeared in some sort of letha magic trick. How could she reach her?
Why did it have to be now? Her thoughts were growing wilder. Jesus, I almost wish it had been an actual wolf.
Except as she imagined a wolf showing up right behind her, she knew that wasn’t true. A real wolf would be just as terrifying.
As if the universe had somehow read her mind, at that exact moment, she heard a wolf begin to howl.
As if it read my mind.
Just like that, the events of the last hour clicked into place in her mind. From Sasha’s reference to the burden release to a real wolf howl sounding in her ears, everything made perfect sense.
None of it was real.
Jude stopped running. She could still hear the laughter behind her, as close as ever, but the meaning of it had vanished.
“You’re not real,” she said confidently.
She turned around, and there was no one there. No Wolf and no wolf.
I’m alone.
And she wasn’t the only one. Wherever Eliana and Fisher were, they were alone, too—alone with their own minds. Hoping against hope that she was on the right track, Jude took another steadying breath.
“I’m going to find Eliana,” she said, still as confident as she could be.
Before her, the path began to open up. The foliage dropped away, and the trellis gave way to open space. Blinking rapidly, she walked forward, watching the scenery change before her very eyes. She remembered the sense she’d had when she first walked in the room—that if they could all three stay together, they’d be just fine. She wondered now if that feeling had been the room, the Hall of Roses, trying to tell her the rules of the game. Rules that they had all promptly ignored.
“I’m going to find them both,” she said, firmly. She wasn’t sure if the room was actually listening to her words, but on the off-chance it was, she wanted to let it know that she was ready to follow the rules.
She kept moving forward, and eventually, she heard the sounds of someone else nearby. It sounded like they were crying. She moved toward it.
After a few moments, she saw Eliana, her back turned toward her, kneeling in front of a dry pond bed, clawing desperately at the earth in front of her.
“Eliana!”
Jude flew toward her, but once again, Eliana hardly seemed to notice. Even as Jude reached her, she didn’t pause in her movements, still clawing uselessly, needlessly at the dry dirt, and muttering half-incoherently to herself.
“Come back,” she said, still oblivious to Jude’s presence. “Amin, come back—I’ve got you, Amin—”
“Eliana?” Jude glanced uncertainly at the dry bed, wondering what Eliana could see that she couldn’t. She wasn’t quite sure how to drag someone else out of their delusion, but she knew she had to try.
She used both hands to grab hold of Eliana’s shoulder and gave her a gentle shake.
“Eliana, can you hear me?”
For a moment, the Adept went still and quiet, almost limp. Then she slowly blinked, her eyes finally coming into focus on what was actually in front of her.
“Jude? How are you here?”
Jude glanced back over at the slight incline beside them.
“Where do you think we are?” she asked.
Eliana followed her gaze, and her jaw dropped open.
“What? I thought—I was at the lake, with my brother, but—”
Jude’s hands were still on Eliana’s shoulders, so she gave her a gentle, reassuring squeeze.
“It’s okay,” she said. “Whatever you saw, it wasn’t real. None of it was real.”
“It wasn’t real? But…” She looked back at the empty ground and trailed off.
Eliana blinked a few more times, horror slowly dawning on her.
“Oh my god, I’ve been such an idiot,” she said, shaking her head. “I should have known about this, I should have known that we needed to stay together—”
“Hey, it’s not your fault,” said Jude. Feeling a slight sense of irony, she added, “We’re all adults here.”
A weak smile slowly pressed onto Eliana’s face, and she brought her right hand up to Jude’s where it rested on her shoulder.
“Thank you for finding me,” she said quietly.
Jude flushed, her eyes seeking the ground.
“Don’t mention it.”
“Hey.”
Jude let her eyes flutter back up and found Eliana’s clear dark eyes staring back at her. For a moment, they seemed frozen that way, seated awkwardly on the ground in a partial embrace. Then, in a flurry of movement, Eliana launched herself forward, engulfing Jude in a full-bodied hug. Warmth flooded Jude’s entire being.
They held together for a moment longer than was strictly necessary.
“Oh, wait,” she said finally, reluctantly. “Fisher—he’s still alone out there. And he’s been alone a lot longer than we have.”
“You’re right,” said Eliana, slowly moving apart from her. “We have to find him.”
They stood up together, and to Jude’s contentment, Eliana immediately reached for her hand.
“Any ideas how we do that?” she asked, her lovely brown eyes searching their vicinity.
“Well,” Jude said, then paused. She’d had the comfort of solitude when she’d tried it before; it seemed infinitely more embarrassing now. But she had exactly one idea. “We can just…do what I did before.” She turned toward the nearby path and did her best to ignore how self-conscious she felt.
“We’re going to find Fisher,” she announced to the room. She said it with as much confidence as she could muster, but nothing happened.
Eliana squeezed her hand and stepped shoulder-to-shoulder with her. “Maybe if we said it together?” Jude nodded her agreement. “Okay.”
“We’re going to find Fisher.”
As embarrassing as it had been when she said it alone, saying it at the same time as someone else made her feel like an elementary school kid.
But it worked. The path ahead of them seemed to shift, briefly letting off a faint glow, as if it wanted to underline the starting point.
So off they went. Now that Eliana walked beside her again, Jude found it much easier to soothe her own anxiety, as if the presence of another human being acted as a balm that she could apply to her own mind.
Every step they took seemed to help her feel better and better, and from Eliana’s softening expression, she guessed it was the same for her. She wouldn’t be able to say for sure until they finally found them, but she hoped it meant they really were getting closer to Fisher.
After a few moments of quiet, Eliana let out a quiet, relieved laugh. Jude glanced over at her questioningly.
“It’s been a really weird night for me,” said Eliana.
“Me, too,” said Jude. She felt a smile break across her face and glanced down, gesturing at her outfit. “I’ve never even worn a suit like this before.”
“It looks good on you.”
“Thanks.” Jude tried and failed to keep herself from blushing. “You, uh, you looked pretty good crushing all those rocks earlier.”
Eliana laughed.
“Well, who wouldn’t?”
They’d barely gone a few more feet before a new sound drifted its way to them: the echo of someone crying.
“Ian,” Eliana muttered under her breath. She shot off like a light, once again dragging Eliana along behind her.
If she goes any faster, I’m going to fall on my face, thought Jude. Fortunately for her, it didn’t take them long to find him. Two turns later, there he was—slumped on the ground, crouching near the base of a tree. He didn’t move as they approached.
“Fisher?” called Eliana, slowing down as they came within reaching distance. “Ian, it’s me. It’s Elli.”
Elli. Jude’s heart gave a small twist at the sound of the nickname, unknown to her.
Fisher seemed to shrink further from them, his hands coming up to cover his face.
“You’re just a trick,” he muttered. “It’s all just tricks.”
Jude let out a small sigh, then seated herself on the ground beside him. Slowly but surely, she put one hand on his knee—enough to initiate contact, not enough to invade his closest bubble. She motioned for Eliana to do the same.
“Ian?” she asked quietly, kneeling beside Jude. “Can you hear me?”
“Go away,” he moaned in response, though he didn’t move from their touch. “You’re trying to trick me.”
Aware that it wouldn’t help anyone, Jude did her best not to roll her eyes at him.
“You’re right,” she said gently. “It’s all tricks. Everything in this room is a trick. We know that because it tricked us, too.”
Ever so slowly, one of his hands came down, and he peeked out through his fingers.
“It did?”
“Yes, it did,” said Eliana, seizing the opportunity. “That’s why we came to find you.”
Fisher’s hands came down, but his eyes were still wide behind his glasses.
“But how do I know that you’re real? What if you’re just another trick?”
Jude found herself quickly losing patience.
“Come on, dude,” she said, her exasperation showing. “The faster you snap out of this, the faster you can get back to making fun of me. Isn’t that what you really want?”
Fisher hung his head uncomfortably and coughed.
“I deserved this, didn’t I?”
Eliana and Jude both sat back and shared a glance, eyebrows raised.
“Why do you think that?” Eliana asked, carefully.
“Because I was a jerk,” he said sullenly, now wrapping his arms around his torso. “I was mean to your friend, and I—I deserve to be alone.”
“Hey, man,” said Jude, trying to give him a reassuring smile, “we’re cool. I forgive you, okay?”
He looked out at her from under his surprisingly long eyelashes.
“Are you sure?”
“Totally sure, as long as you don’t make me sit here and talk about it any longer. So, you ready to get up off your ass now?”
Suddenly it was Fisher who smiled.
“Yeah, I am.” Jude offered him her hand, and he took it. As soon as they were both on their feet, Fisher let out a self-conscious laugh. Jude could tell he was already starting to share their calm. “Wow, that was embarrassing, huh?”
“For you, yeah,” said Jude. Beside her, Eliana laughed and shook her head.
“Okay, I say we get the hell out of here,” she said, looking all around them for a clearly marked exit. “Fisher, maybe it’s time you actually use your X-ray vision, huh?”
“Oh, right,” said Fisher. Almost unconsciously, he touched the side of his glasses. Suddenly, Jude realized why they looked a little odd—they had no lenses in them.
“Wait, this whole time, you’ve had X-ray vision?” asked Jude, nonplussed. “Were you born that way?”
“Of course not,” Fisher scoffed, as if that were the ridiculous idea. “I was in the tournament, just like Elli was. Not all of us choose to be bound with brute strength, you know.” With his fingers still pressed lightly to the side of his glasses, he scanned the shrubbery walls around them, then pointed. “All right, I think we should head that way.”
Once again, they headed off. For the first few moments they walked in silence. Jude still couldn’t say that she liked Fisher exactly, but she also couldn’t deny that while the three of them were together, she felt infinitely safer traversing the maze. Though she knew they were still in the sam
e space they’d been in this whole time, they no longer heard strange, unsettling noises, slowly coming closer and closer. Instead, she heard a plaintive, peaceful owl hooting somewhere in the distance.
With Fisher only a few feet ahead of them, leading the way, Eliana stepped closer and took Jude’s hand once more.
“So,” she said, sounding more cheerful than she had since they’d first entered the maze, “sorry the Hall of Roses turned out to be…well, kinda bat-shit crazy, I guess.”
“I’m not sure it was just the room,” said Jude, shaking her head.
Fisher glanced back at them. “What else could it have been?”
“We drank those phials before we entered,” she shrugged. “And, uh, you were the one who drank the most—and it was kinda the worst for you, wasn’t it?”
Fisher turned back to the front and shook his head.
“Figures,” he muttered.
“You might be right,” said Eliana. “Either way…well, I’m glad you were here with us.”
Jude felt her mouth twitch into a smile. She felt almost like a hero—almost like she didn’t even need Logan to swoop in and rescue her anymore.
Though if Logan were to show up now, she wouldn’t turn her away.
After a few more minutes of walking in near silence, Fisher finally came to a stop, pointing at a large archway several feet away.
“That should be our way out, and into the party,” he said, gazing at it with a kind of amazed relief. An ironic smile playing on his lips, he glanced back at Jude. “Hey, newbie. You wanna know why I signed up for the Order of Shadows?”
“Sure,” said Jude with a shrug. “Why’d you sign up?”
He looked like he might laugh or cry; she couldn’t be sure.
“’Cause they have all the best drugs, of course.”
Jude paused for a beat, then nodded to herself.
“Wow. You made a really bad choice.”
“I’m aware of that now.”
“I mean, I think you might be an idiot.”
“You’ve made your point.”
“Guys,” said Eliana, waving her free hand. “Can we do this outside?”
“Please, let’s,” said Fisher. He turned on his heel, away from them, and strode out through the archway. This time, Jude wasn’t surprised to see him vanish into nothingness.