The heads spoke together. “We’ll be fine. Go and stop this thing. This place stinks of death.”

The right head made an effort to look past the ghoul and me. “I think your human friend could use some help.”

Mo’Lock and I turned to find Blout out cold, spread-eagle on his back. God, how I envied him. He’d get to sleep through it all.

The ghoul and I kept going, leaving Blout with the heads and the message that we’d pressed on. I sensed we were close as the heart beat hard inside the box. Whatever Cain had begun or become, it was soon time for a showdown. I was eager to get it over with. My only regret was that I’d miss the look on Blout’s face when the heads gave him our message.

22

The long corridor became thinner and thinner as Mo’Lock and I advanced. The lights were spotty and dim, only a few every other yard or so to accommodate a plant here, a root there. Still, there was enough light to see that the end was a long way off. At least I could see no immediate threats. The only sounds were our own footfalls grinding in the soft, muddy dirt and the occasional drag and kick when one of us lost our footing.

The peace and quiet bothered me more than the action. It gave me time to feel my hurting body, each and every cut, scrape, and bruise. I was a mass of pain and needed the distraction of motion. Without it, the pain was too much. I couldn’t focus. It was then, I think, that my mind was first tugged away . . .

All at once, my head began to feel strange. It hit like a breeze, then a wave, building to the force of a wrecking ball. Not pain, not really, more like a creeping paralysis—like a stiff, aching joint. I had to stop. I was confused, unsure where I was.

“Cal, are you all right?” a voice said to my side.

I couldn’t see anything. Was I home. Too late?

The voice repeated the question.

I covered my face in my hands. “Yeah, I’m fine Dad . . .”

“What?” Mo’Lock asked.

I felt his hand on my shoulder. “I said I’m . . .”

I blinked, shaking my confusion away as I dug in my pocket for a pill. The bitter crunch was a needed slap in the face. My vision cleared and I saw the ghoul standing there with a look of unmistakable worry.

“Stop that,” I said, standing fully erect. “Fucking ghoul.”

I walked away stamping my feet and used my tongue to pick at the jagged chunks of pill stuck in my teeth. Behind me Mo’Lock had a hand to his temple and a strained expression on his stiff white face.

“What’s up?” I asked, but didn’t slow my stride.

The ghoul kept walking, brow raised. “I just had the oddest sensation,” he said. “It was as though my brain itched.”