"Don't think you're going up there alone," Mack stated quietly.
Jon closed his eyes. He just wanted it all over with, one way or another. But Mack was right. He couldn't go up there alone. Not if he wanted Maddie to walk free from this mess.
"Fine," he said remotely, watching the wind whip the branches of the old pine. "It's not a good day for flight, anyway." But it sure as hell was a good day to kill.
The little man was back in her head, pounding away on his infernal drums. Maddie shook her head, but that only made the pounding increase. Sweat broke out across her forehead and bile rose up the back of her throat. She swallowed heavily, but the metallic taste in her mouth made her stomach turn. She groaned and squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the rolling sensation to go away.
After a while she became aware of a breeze running chill fingers past her legs. She shivered, suddenly realizing her whole body felt cold—so cold her bones ached with it.
She opened her eyes. The light of a nearby torch flickered off the red-brown walls, making the shadows beyond the flame appear more threatening. Somewhere beyond that, lost in the darkness, came the steady drip of water. Beyond that again, the distant howl of the wind.
She shifted slightly, and pain lanced through her brain. Tears stung her eyes. She brushed them away with the heel of her hand, then stared at the huge metal bars about ten feet away. They rose from the rock floor to the ceiling and looked as old as time itself. This wasn't a hastily prepared prison, she thought with a cold feeling of dread. This was a prison Eleanor had used many times before.
Turning carefully, she studied the darkness behind her. A figure suddenly loomed, eyes gleaming in the flickering torchlight. Maddie yelped and edged back in fright. The figure did the same, and Maddie stared in surprise.
It wasn't Eleanor. The scream had sounded too young, and the body shape was wrong. Her heart did a quick leap of joy. It couldn't be, surely… ?
"Teresa?" she questioned softly.
"Yes." The reply was timid, and the girl's voice hoarse, as if she hadn't spoken for a while.
Aware the slightest wrong movement could frighten the girl back into hiding, Maddie kept her voice low.
"Are you okay?"
The teenager edged forward. She was tall and slender, with long, matted brown hair. Her face was gaunt and pale, and dark shadows ringed her eyes. It wasn't hard to guess she'd been Eleanor's guest for quite a while. "Are you a prisoner, too?
Maddie nodded. "I'm afraid Eleanor doesn't like me very much."
The teenager stared at her. "Is that her name? I've only seen her when she comes to check if I'm still asleep."
Which suggested the teenager had been awake for a while. Maddie wondered whether the fact that Teresa was now awake was an oversight on Eleanor's part or intentional. "How often does she do that?"
Teresa shrugged. "Regularly. She took my watch, so I can't really say what time."
If the witch checked regularly, she'd no doubt be back soon. Maddie shivered and rubbed her arms briskly. The movement sent the madman in her head into a frenzy of activity.
"I'm cold, too," Teresa said, edging closer.
The nightgown she wore wasn't much longer than Maddie's T-shirt and certainly didn't appear any warmer. "I'm told that two people hugging is a good way to keep warm," Maddie replied softly. "Want to try it?"
The teenager hesitated a second, then rushed forward and collapsed into her embrace. Maddie rubbed her hands up and down the girl's half-frozen arms and wondered how in the hell she was going to get them both out of Eleanor's cage.
"Where are we?" Teresa clung to her tightly, as if afraid to let her go.
"I don't know." She leaned her head back against the wall and studied the cavern beyond their prison.
They were somewhere in the mountains, obviously, but more than that she couldn't guess. But wherever it was, it was a stronghold Eleanor had well prepared. Fear stabbed through her heart, and she closed her eyes. Jon would come for her, no matter how many traps Eleanor set for him. And he would die because he was only one man, and he couldn't fight Eleanor and protect her at the same time.
She should have listened to him, should have left when she had the chance, instead of lingering that extra night.
And yet, given the chance to do it all over again, her choices would remain the same. Maybe it was selfish, but if she had to die, then she wanted it to be with the memory of Jon's touch still burning across her skin.
Teresa shifted and glanced up. Her eyes were brown and slightly unfocused. Drugged, Maddie thought, and wondered if it might explain her own unnatural calm.
"How are we going to get out of here?" Teresa asked.
Another question she couldn't answer. Maddie smiled grimly and brushed a limp strand of hair away from the girl's eyes. "I'll find a way." She ran her hands up and down the teenager's arms for a minute, then frowned. "Did you wake up on the floor, or a bed of some sort?"
"A bed. Why?"
"Just curious. Come on, show me."
The teenager rose unsteadily. Maddie climbed to her feet then clung on to the wall as the darkness spun around her. The spinning eased after several deep breaths but didn't entirely go away. She rubbed the sweat off her forehead and wondered what in hell was wrong. Her skin was so cold that everything ached, and yet inside, it felt as if she were burning up. Her head alternated between a pounding ache and a weird, spaced-out sort of sensation, and she wasn't entirely sure which she preferred.
"This way," Teresa said softly.
Walking a few feet had them back into darkness. Another step had her legs bumping into the wooden bed frame. Maddie bent down and swept her hand across the surface. Rough wool met her touch. A blanket. She picked it up, then reached out and caught Teresa by the arm. "Here, wrap this around you."
"It smells," she muttered, but pulled the blanket around herself nevertheless.
The only smell Maddie could make out was unwashed teenager. "I want you to do me a favor, Teresa."
"What?" There was suddenly a great deal of wariness in the girl's voice.
Which was understandable, considering they were both strangers. The kid might want to trust her, but she wasn't a complete fool. "If we hear someone coming, I want you to lie down on this bed and pretend to be asleep. No matter what happens, I don't want you to move or make a sound. Can you do that?"
"Yes." Something in her voice suggested it was a charade she'd already played.
"And if you get the chance, I want you to run as fast as you can out of this place and head down the mountain. Okay?" If this was the same place where Hank had stopped earlier, then there'd be a road for the teenager to find and follow. "A friend of mine should be outside soon, and he'll help you."
"What's his name?"
"Jon." Maddie closed her eyes briefly against the sudden ache in her heart. "Come on, let's get back to the light."
They shuffled back to the bars. Maddie leaned her forehead against them, trying to ignore another wash of weakness. After several deep breaths, she studied the cavern once more.
It was hard to make out any distinct shapes in the uneven light of the sputtering torch. The breeze shivered past her legs, and the smell of snow, citrus and death was heavy in the air.
Her stomach rolled again. She clung to the bars and licked her dry lips. When the world stopped spinning again, she glanced up at the torch. The flames were bending to her right, following the lead of the wind.
"That's the way to run, Teresa," she said, pointing to the left of the cavern. "That's where the breeze is coming from, so there has to be some sort of exit."
The teenager nodded. "She never leaves the door unlocked, though."