Whisper (Whisper #1)(62)

“Ward sent him to keep an eye on her,” Dante says, gesturing to me. “He made it look like the kid had to stay behind, but he’s been tailing her ever since they left Lengard.”

I suck in a sharp breath, the only outward sign of how much this news rattles me. Sneak has been following me? Spying on me? But … that doesn’t make sense. Ward was the one who told Sneak he couldn’t come with us. He’s the one who —

There’s something I need you to do for me … It’s really important, and you’d be doing me a huge favor.

I shut my eyes tight against the memory of what Ward said to the younger boy. He never intended to keep Sneak from the outing — he just didn’t want any of us to know we were being followed.

He didn’t want me to know.

That stings more than I would like. More than it should.

Craning his neck to get a better look at his captor, the young boy breathes, “You’re Dante Oberon.”

“Smart kid,” Dante says. I can’t tell if he’s being sarcastic or not.

“Wait a second.” I hold up my hands. “How do you know he’s been following me?”

Dante’s shoulders lift and fall. “My Speaking ability — I can read people.”

“As in … their thoughts?” At his second shrug, I close my eyes again, wondering if this day could get any worse. A real mind reader? I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t just seen him use his ability for myself.

A soft touch on my hand makes me jump. Liana is directly beside me, her gaze unwavering in its intensity.

“Your future is cast in shadow and song, your destiny filled with echoes,” she repeats in the same eerie voice as earlier, but no light flares this time. “No one knows what lies ahead. But more than any path I’ve ever seen, yours is hidden most of all.”

Like the first time, the power in her words makes me shiver. “What —”

“Liana has a rare ability,” Dante interjects. “She can Speak news of the future into the present, warning us of what may be coming.”

I swing back around to gape at Liana. First mind readers, now people who can see the future. What’s next?

“She’s the reason we knew to expect your bodyguard here,” Dante continues. “Not to mention,” he adds, “she saved the kid’s life, since she saw that he was gonna run off in a panic and get lost down here. He wouldn’t be the first person to never make it out again.”

Sneak swallows. “You mean …”

Dante sends a wolfish smile down at him. “Better stick with us, kid. You’ll never find a way out on your own.”

Sneak’s pupils are huge, his fear tangible. Despite him being sent here to spy on me, I still feel protective of him.

“What are you going to do with him?” I ask the room. “With me?”

“We don’t have time to do anything but bring him along,” Kael says. “We’ll figure out the rest as we go.”

He moves toward me, and I automatically back away, but he reaches out and wraps his hand around my wrist.

“We’ve wasted too much time,” he says, dragging me toward the door and out into the tunnel. “We brought you here for a reason. Now you need to learn what it is.”

Well, finally. But as relieved as I am, I’m also apprehensive. Because if my captors are as dangerous as Manning claimed …

“You didn’t answer me before, so I’m just going to ask straight out,” I say as Kael drags me along. “You’re the Remnants, aren’t you?” I look over my shoulder, to see Liana following with Dante and Sneak. “The rebel group of Speakers who broke away from Lengard. The terrorists.”

“We are many things, known by many names,” Liana answers.

“Renegades, fugitives, deserters,” Dante offers. “Insurgents, revolutionaries, anarchists.”

Kael’s grip tightens, and I hear him add, “Survivors.”

“If there’s one thing we aren’t, it’s terrorists,” Dante says as we step out of the tunnel onto a ledge that overlooks another immense catacomb chamber, this one even larger than the first.

My feet stop without my permission as I take in the sight. I feel as if I’ve stumbled upon another ancient archaeological wonder. But it’s not just the expanse of the cave, with its torch-lit flames lighting up stone walls, archway exits and labyrinthine pathways. No — it’s the people. They’re everywhere. Walking, talking … some of them sitting, eating, reading, laughing.

… Living.

Are they living down here?

Is this place their home?

“Survivors are what we have to be.”

Kael’s voice comes to me as if from far away while I stare at all the people spread out beneath us.

“Because it’s those at Lengard who are the real terrorists. And soon enough, Alyssa Scott, you’ll understand why.”

Two words.

That’s all it takes for my heart to stop and the walls to close in around me.





CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE


“How do you know that name?” I whisper, my voice barely a breath of sound.

“All in good time, princess,” Kael says.

How — how — can he possibly know that name?