“No,” Evin said through gritted teeth. “No, it’s not that. Back at the ruins, when I went to go find her, I saw—”

A panel beside the fireplace popped open. Evin leaped away from Jorick. Both boys pulled free the swords from their belts.

Bet walked through, smiling. Ignoring their swords, she rushed to grab their hands.

“I found them!” she said. “They’re alive, and they’re unguarded!”

“My dad?” Jorick said. His voice was full of joy, all thought of Bet’s weird behavior suddenly gone. “You found my dad? Where?”

Bet pulled them around the fallen table toward the secret door she’d come through. “This way. There’s a whole bunch of cages with people inside.”

Evin pulled his hand free of Bet’s. “Why didn’t you tell us you were going to go find them?” he asked. “Why didn’t you just take us with you?”

Bet adjusted the strap of her satchel and flipped her hair. “I said I’d be right back. Didn’t you hear me? I was only gone for a moment. I just wanted to check something.”

“Check what?” Evin asked.

Bet sighed, irritated. Opening up the Practical Guide, she turned to the center and showed Evin an intricate drawing of an underground lair. It was labeled “Typical Goblin Lair—Abandoned Gnome Burrowtown.”

“Look,” she said, pointing with her finger at the top left portion of the map. “See, this is the chamber we fought the gnolls in.” Tracing a path with her finger, she continued on. “And this is the cavern we walked through, and these are the halls, and this is the room we’re in now.” Moving her finger to the top right portion of the map, she said, “And this is where I went.”

She pointed at a section of the map in which several square boxes were labeled “Slave Pens.”

“See, I knew this place was familiar.” Bet pulled the book back and slammed it shut. “This must have been the goblin lair that Zendric based his drawing upon. I got the idea when I saw those old goblin paintings in the first chamber, and I just went to check my theory before we decided to run off down that other hallway.” She gestured to the hallway behind Evin through which the muttering sounds came.

“Goblin lair?” Jorick asked. “Are the gnolls working for goblins, then?”

Bet shrugged. “Maybe that, or maybe they killed all the goblins and took over the place. It doesn’t matter. All that matters is I found your villagers, and now we have a map of this place. What are you waiting for?”

Evin didn’t know what to say. Part of him felt relieved. But the other part—the part that couldn’t forget what he saw up above—couldn’t bring himself to trust Bet.