Rachel taps me on the shoulder, pulling me out of my reverie. “Is that an illusion too?”

A huge crevasse yawns in front of us, far too wide to jump across. I peer into the abyss and see that way, way down, are more stalagmites. From here, they look small enough to be splinters, but I know they’re probably humongous up close. I take a step back, frowning.

“This wasn’t here last night…” I murmur. “It must be an illusion.”

Rachel shudders. “It’s a very convincing one.”

“Natasha’s craft is excellent.”

I take a deep breath and begin to step forward, but Rachel yanks me back.

She eyes the gulf suspiciously. “I don’t think it’s safe to assume this is an illusion. What if Maeve has another talent in her possession? Like an earth rattler. Or maybe you took a different path to the cavern with the pool.”

I hadn’t thought of that, but those are both good points.

“I’m almost certain this is the route we took,” I say. “But let’s test it just in case.”

I grab a loose rock nearby, then toss it into the gulf. It quickly disappears, but makes a thud much faster than it would hitting the bottom.

“Where did it go?” Rachel says.

“The illusion swallowed it up. See? Nothing to worry about.” Before she can stop me, I step out onto the illusion-covered path. She squeaks, then stops as she realizes it looks as though I’m suspended over thin air. She swallows hard.

“It’ll be easier if you close your eyes,” I say, reaching out my hand.

She smiles weakly. “And here I thought I was supposed to be helping you.” She squeezes her eyes shut and shuffles one foot forward so she can feel the ground under her feet. Then she grabs my hand tightly. “Just tell me when we’re on the other side.”

We make slow progress as she shuffles her way across. I can’t help but admire Natasha’s work. She really is an artist.

When we’re finally free of the illusion, I let go of Rachel’s hand. “We’re clear now.”

She sneaks an eye open and breathes out in relief. “That isn’t a thing I want to do again anytime soon.”

I can’t help but laugh, then clap my hand over my mouth. I send my thoughts into her head.

We need to be careful to remain quiet now. We can talk like this, if you don’t mind.

Rachel’s eyes widen. You mean I can hear your thoughts now too? I nod, and she considers for a moment. All right. Yes, that’s probably wise.

We continue down the tunnel, hugging the walls just in case. And we keep an eye out for any other traps or illusions. Before long, we reach the end of the tunnel where it leads into the cavernous room where Sebastian and I found Maeve last night. Right now it’s empty, but when I stretch out my talent, I can feel the shape of several minds hidden in other small caves off this one. That’s where she’s keeping Jemma and Ida and the other shells.