Someone grabs my shoulders, giving me a shake. It’s Carrick’s voice that says, “Snap out of it.”
My eyes are open. I hear Carrick, and, in the background, I hear other voices—Rainey, Myles, and Zaid. Yet, I still see the cave all around me, the cold floor chilling my body, and my extremities still tingling from the shock Zora gave me.
“What the hell was that?” Carrick snarls, and I know he’s not talking to me, but probably Zaid or Rainey.
And I don’t want him to be mad at them because this was my choice. My desire to defend them has me receding from the cave. The library starts to come into focus, and I realize I’m on the floor in front of the fireplace with Carrick holding the top part of my body in his arms.
I reach up, touching my hand to his face, and his eyes come to me. “I talked to Zora.”
He blinks in astonishment. “How?”
“I don’t know exactly. I just thought of her and the Underworld, and I reached out.”
“And you had a conversation?”
I try to sit up a little, and Carrick helps me. Feeling starts to return to my legs as I say, “A short conversation. I explained I was her twin sister. She wasn’t happy to hear from me.”
Carrick stands, hauls me to my feet—gently, of course—and leads me back over to the conference table. I look over at the fireplace where I’d been lying on the floor and ask Zaid, “How did I get out of the chair and on the floor?”
“You were pacing, and while you weren’t saying anything, the way you were moving your hands and your facial expressions told us you were having a conversation with someone.”
“I was in the caves,” I murmur, sitting in a chair that Carrick pulls out. He sits beside me, and the others take seats as well. I notice Myles’ ridiculous leather outfit, but I don’t have it in me to even tease him. “It all felt so real, but I knew I was still in the library. I felt really grounded back here.”
“I’m glad of that,” Carrick mutters. “Because that was a foolish stunt to pull.”
“Oh, shut up,” I snap. “I was perfectly safe. Except… well… she can apparently hurt me through the connection. She gave me a little jolt of electricity.”
Carrick growls, but my attention is taken by Rainey when she asks, “What did you two discuss?”
“Not much,” I report glumly. “I just told her she was born here, was my identical twin, and was stolen. I told her she didn’t need to be afraid, and she seemed offended I would even suggest that. She told me she wasn’t afraid of anything and then told me to stay away.”
“Maybe you should listen to her then,” Rainey suggests softly.
I sigh with frustration. “It felt like she hated me.”
“Then give up this foolish idea of going to the Underworld,” Rainey grits out.
Carrick’s body locks tightly, but his voice is droll when he says, “You’re going to the Underworld?”
Shifting in my chair to see him, I chastise, “This can’t be news to you. You know saving her is a priority to me.”
“But I didn’t think you meant to go there and do it yourself,” he replies coldly. “There are other ways—”
“Enough,” I snarl, rubbing at my temples where a distinctive headache has formed. “Nothing that just happened changes my determination. I’m going to get her out of there, and I’ll do it with or without everyone’s help. I’ll still focus my energy on the prophecy, too. I can do both.”
Everyone sits in silence, lost in their thoughts about the matter.
Except for Myles, who gets up from his seat and walks into the stacks at the far end. Rainey’s head turns to follow him, and I can tell by her expression that she’s just noticing his outfit.
My attention goes back to Carrick. “So… did you two learn anything big tonight?”
I can tell Carrick isn’t happy I’ve left the conversation regarding Zora behind, but I know we’re not done talking about it either. He’ll be hitting me hard later, so he easily lapses into a summary of how the night went.
I could tell he glossed over some unsavory details about what happens at these parties, but the night was not a bust at all.
“While we got leads on a few relics, one looks promising,” Carrick says, then proceeds to tell us about the chalice.
His gaze moves past all of us to where Myles is returning with a big book in