Gates of Thread and Stone(54)

He stepped aside so that we could pass through. Then he pulled the gate shut and locked it behind us.

“You were wrong,” Avan said as we followed DJ through more tunnels. The smell grew damper, moldier, and more bitter. “You said the Rider kidnapped people and turned them into hollows against their will.”

“Hey,” DJ said, his voice uncomfortably loud. “I tell you what I’m told to say, and it still got you there all right. Anyway, Mr. Hollow over there isn’t proving me wrong.”

Mason smiled—not his usual smile but a fake, vacant version. “Lead us forward,” he said in a monotone.

When DJ turned away with a shudder, Mason’s smile cracked into a real one, and he winked at me. I almost laughed.

According to Mason’s map, we stood directly under the Labyrinth—which explained the familiar smell—following an outside route to the White Court. The tunnels here were in worse shape than the Labyrinth above. We wedged through caved-in passages, making our way around the active sewage pipes, and had to travel in the dark for stretches when we drew too close to a patrolling Watchman. A few times, the entire passage quaked as a heavy Gray passed overhead, and we flattened ourselves against the wall to avoid any loose debris. I wasn’t claustrophobic, but I had begun to change my mind about this by the time we reached another locked gate.

“This one leads into the White Court. I don’t know what business you two got in there, but good luck. You’ll need it here even more than in the Outlands.” DJ jabbed his thumb in Mason’s direction as he turned away. “He’ll take you in.”

This would be the farthest I’d ever been inside the White Court. Somewhere up there is Reev.

The sewers here were noticeably different. The dampness and the odors remained, but the tunnels were sturdier. They must have been reinforced sometime in the last century.

We walked for another ten minutes before Mason abruptly killed the light. His hand gripped my shoulder and pushed me up against the wall. I heard Avan hit the stone beside me. Mason leaned in, pinning us both with a whispered “Quiet.”

I remained still, Mason’s body like a furnace compared to the damp sewage air. My ears strained for whatever he had heard. There was nothing but the sound of dripping water.

Then I heard it. Footsteps, along with the hum of voices echoing off the tunnel walls. The footsteps sounded hurried. The glow of a lantern wavered through the metal grate of another tunnel to the left of us.

“Keep looking,” a voice said.

Mason eased back, and I could practically feel the energy rising off him.

“Listen,” he whispered. “Your exit is down that tunnel and to the right. There will be a ladder like the one we came down and a symbol beneath the manhole cover that looks like one of the marks on my collar. That’ll open up to an alley behind Zora Hall, the Tournament dormitories. Go in through the back.” He sniffed at me. “And try to clean yourselves off.”

He began moving away. I grasped his wrist as more footsteps reverberated through the tunnel, closer now.

“What about you?” I asked, feeling Avan’s hand on my arm.

“We must have tripped an alarm somewhere,” Mason said. “I don’t know how I missed it, but it doesn’t matter now. I’ll lead them away. You two get to Zora Hall.”

“But, Mason—”

“Unless you hurry, I won’t have enough time to get them chasing each other in circles.” He sounded excited to have been caught. I wanted to smack him for enjoying the danger.

“Don’t do anything reckless,” I said, releasing his wrist.

I couldn’t make out his face in the dark, but I imagined he was smiling. “Remember what I told you. End your matches as quickly as possible. Try not to let your opponent knock you off your feet. And remember, when you find Reev—”

“Go back to the manhole at noon. Flip the cover. Meet there twenty-four hours later,” I finished for him. He grunted his approval.

I felt Avan brush past me as he reached over to Mason. “Be careful getting out.”

“Take care of each other,” Mason said quietly. Silence followed for a beat too long. Were he and Avan having a staring contest in the dark?

Finally, Mason’s fingers found my cheek, and he leaned in so that his words were only a breath against my ear.

“I’ll be waiting for you in Etu Gahl when this is over.”

I touched his shoulder. “Thank you for everything.”





CHAPTER 26




WE CREPT INTO Zora Hall through the back and entered a hallway. All the doors were identical except for the room numbers etched into the wood. I leaned closer to one, trailing my fingers against the woodwork. The curling lines had been carved with care.

“I don’t suppose Mason forgot to give us our room assignments,” Avan said. He dusted off his shirt, which sent a cloud of powdery dirt onto the gleaming floor. I looked down at myself. My clothes weren’t much better. Mason had suggested we clean off, but he hadn’t said how. Had he made it out safely?

“Hey!” someone said from behind us.

I jumped away from the door I’d been studying. A Watchman came up the hall, looking stern. I lowered my eyes, my pulse quickening. I hoped we just appeared lost.

“Lights-out was an hour ago.” Her nose wrinkled. “What were you two doing? Crawling through the sewers?”