was throbbing. Cassian had said Anya had fractured her mind beyond repair. But could a fractured mind do what she had just done?
Eventually, they saw the tube that led back to the Hunt; Leon had marked it with chalk. Cora tried not to think about the wounded guard.
They had Anya.
Cassian was on her side.
Once they had Nok and Rolf safe, she would be ready for the Gauntlet. She ignored that itch in her mind that said there was more to the Gauntlet than Cassian was letting on.
35
Cora
CORA SLAMMED THE DOOR of her cell closed.
She mussed her hair to make it look as if she’d slept, and kicked around her blanket, seconds before the morning lights flickered on. The clock above the doorway clicked onto Morning Prep.
She sank against the bars, chest rising and falling hard. She had made it. They had made it. It was all she could do, once the lights flickered all the way on, not to laugh out loud in joy. She pressed a hand over her mouth and whirled toward Lucky’s cell.
But the joy on her face died.
He looked awful. Dark circles around his eyes, hair tangled, like he hadn’t slept at all. As soon as the lightlocks clicked off, she pushed open the door. The other kids all tumbled out of their cells, trying to beat one another to the feed room. Cora bided her time until they cleared.
“What’s wrong?” she asked Lucky.
He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck and glanced at the fox. Their argument from the night before flooded back to her, his assertions that he’d do anything—even stay behind—to protect the animals, and that it was her responsibility to do the same for the kids.
“The others know,” he said.
She jerked back in surprise. “How much?”
“Not everything, but enough. They’ve been protecting us.” He glanced toward the medical room, tucking a few torn-out journal pages into his pocket. There was handwriting on them, but it wasn’t his. “Did you get Anya?”
“Yeah. She’s safe, but . . .” She remembered the gun floating in the air. “I’m not sure anyone around her is. She’s delirious. She isn’t going to be able to train me like that.”
“It must be the drugs,” Lucky said. “They’ll have to leave her system before she can tell you how to control minds.”
The clock clicked over to Showtime, and Cora’s stomach grumbled, but she ignored it. Lucky rubbed his shoulder uneasily as he watched the backstage kids tumble out of the feed room, Shoukry and Christopher arguing over half a breakfast cake. His fingers fumbled again with the torn-out pages.
“What are those?” she asked.
He didn’t answer. She was tempted to probe inside his mind and see what was bothering him. She went so far as to send her thoughts just to the edge of his, but flinched when she saw images of guns, darts, dead animals—all surrounded by an overwhelming feeling of sadness.
“Don’t worry about it.” When he met her eyes, he blinked and his weariness vanished. He gave her half a smile. “We’re getting close. You’re going to beat this thing, I know it.”
His words bolstered her hope.
That morning, she raced through her songs as if she’d chugged ten cups of coffee. Her limbs felt light and jittery. Arrowal and the Council members hadn’t come today. Roshian was rotting where no one would ever find him. For the first time in days, Cora let herself revel in a sense of hope, as she pulled Shoukry onstage and they belted out the refrain together.
“I haven’t thought of that song in years!” Shoukry said with a laugh. “We used to listen to it at the roller-skating rink. It played at my fifth birthday party.”
Cora squeezed his hand, beaming.
Shoukry leaned in close. “Whatever you’re planning,” he whispered, “we’re with you.”
Shocked, Cora couldn’t form words to answer until Shoukry was already stepping off the stage, and by then, the front door was opening.
Cassian entered, and any words vanished in her mind.
His eyes met hers and he stopped. Suddenly she was back in his quarters, and it made goose bumps erupt on her arms. They were in this together now. No more secrets. No more lies.
He nodded toward the alcove.
Once they were in the solitude behind the wooden screen, she thought her racing heart would slow, but it only beat faster.
“We freed Anya,” she said.
“Where is she?”
“With the Mosca.” Cora picked up one of the cards on the table, the queen of diamonds, turning it anxiously between her fingers.
“It will take