I massaged my temples, trying to soothe the low-grade headache that had taken up residence behind my eyes.
I didn’t have the answers, and that made me sick. “Maybe the Purgatory thing is a separate thing…I don’t know. We don’t have time for this right now. Cora and Uri will be back soon with intel on the ouroboros site, and we still have to find out what Kristoff knows.” I looked up at Conah. “Which is why I called you. I need you to read his memories.”
“Kristoff? I don’t understand.”
“I think it’s better if I showed you.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Cora
The signpost with the ouroboros symbol points to a trail that’s beaten down enough to tell us it gets regular use. We’re on it for about three minutes before two wider trails link to it, and the sound of an engine forces us into the bushes.
My hands get scratched to fuck by brambles, and I think I might have swallowed a bug. We crouch and wait for the motor to pass.
It’s a minivan, black, no number plates. Dodgy as fuck.
Uri’s eye whites gleam in the gloom as he looks my way. “I think we’re on the right track.”
“Agreed. Let’s scope up ahead a little.”
It’s too risky to jump. We have no idea what lies up ahead. We have no idea who has Hunter and the humans or why.
We slip back onto the trail and keep to the left, close to the bushes, as we make our way after the van. It isn’t long until the trail spills onto a field, ground all churned up by wheel tracks, and up ahead, sitting silent and alone in the middle of the flatlands, is a farmhouse, dead and empty-looking. But the two vans parked outside it and the winking lights at the gates tell me this is the place we’re looking for.
Whoever has the missing humans and Hunter has them here.
“What do you want to do?” Uri asks.
“We need to get a lay of the land.”
“I’ll go in.”
“No.” I grab his arm. “I’ll do it. I’m smaller. I can hide better.”
Uri looks torn, but I can see that the strategist in him knows that out of the two of us, I’m the better scout.
“Don’t be a hero,” he says. “Scope and get out.”
“I’ve got this. But if I’m not back in fifteen, you need to go.”
I expect him to argue, but he nods. “Fifteen.”
I give him a mock salute and then jump to the fence surrounding the building. I’m in the cover of shadows, which is perfect for sneak-peeking into the drive where the vans are parked. It’s dead. No sound, no signs of life. Eerie as fuck. I jump into the drive using the vans for cover and wait. Did anyone see? Is anyone coming?
Nothing.
Okay. I jump again, right up to the side of the house so I’m pressed to the wall, and wait for long seconds. There’s a lawnmower parked not too far from me, rusty and broken. A trough that’s filled with slushy snow water and a wellington boot.
The place feels deserted, but it can’t be.
Vans don’t drive themselves.
There’s a window to my left, and I take a breath and peer in. The glass is grimy, but I can see enough to know the place isn’t lived in. Dustsheets cover furniture and cobwebs cling to the inside of the window frame.
Okay, the moment of truth.
I jump into the house.
Uri
Five more minutes and I’m going in after her. Leaving her behind is not an option. I count down the seconds, watching the house and looking for signs of movement. There are none.
This feels wrong.
Like a dead end.
Like a lure.
Maybe a trap.
Damn it. If anything happens to Cora, Fee will never forgive me. I’ll never forgive me. I should have gone in first.
I catch a flash of movement. A figure pressed to the side of the house, but it’s hard to tell for sure from here.
Then the figure vanishes.
It has to be Cora.
Three minutes left, but I’m not waiting any longer.
Two minutes.
One.
There’s a flash of light in an upstairs window, but it’s gone so quick that for a moment, I think I’ve imagined it. But the thud of my pulse and the thunder of my heart tell me different.
My instincts kick in.
Something’s wrong.
I jump into the house, into the musty interior that screams neglect. The world feels smothered, like pillows are being pressed to my ears. The air is thick with dust motes and leaves a funny taste on my