“How do you know Marcus?” I asked as I started to climb the rungs down.

My guide shrugged. “He did me a favor once.”

That seemed to be the story of Marcus’s life. We thanked the guy and then made our way down. Just as Marcus had said, there really was a tunnel. We hurried through it with little conversation, emerging into a utility shed in a park a few blocks away. We saw no signs of pursuit in the tunnel or up above, and Marcus felt secure enough to lead us to a parked blue Chevy. He produced some keys from his pocket and unlocked the door.

It wasn’t until we were on the road that he finally spoke. “Well,” he said. “I’ve got good news and bad news. The good news is that you don’t have to keep making the Alchemists think you’re at Court. The bad news is, the Alchemists know you aren’t there anymore.”

CHAPTER 14: ADRIAN . . . AGAIN

CHAPTER 14

ADRIAN . . . AGAIN

ONCE I KNEW WE WERE MOMENTARILY SAFE from the Alchemists, the first thing I had to do was secure Declan and my mom.

“Where are you?” I asked her when she answered the phone. I was sitting in the backseat while Marcus drove us to what he swore really was a safe house. Sydney was in the passenger seat, sending text updates to pretty much everyone we knew.

“I’m at Clarence’s,” replied my mother. “Where else would I be?”

I breathed a sigh of relief. “Good. You need to stay there for a while—do not leave. Do you have enough supplies for Declan?” I thought she’d gone overboard in her initial shopping. Now I was grateful.

“Well, yes, I suppose, though he doesn’t seem terribly fond of those pacifiers I bought. I might need to find a different—”

“Do not leave,” I repeated. “The house is almost certainly being watched. The Alchemists know we’re here.”

Immediately, my mother grasped the severity of the situation. “Are you all right?”

“We’re fine—we got away. But they’ll watch all our hangouts now to see if we go there. They’ll know we aren’t back at Clarence’s, and that’s fine. But they also probably don’t know you and Declan are there, and we need to keep it that way. Stay inside.”

She fell silent for several moments. “Adrian, there’s something . . . unusual about Declan, isn’t there?”

“Special,” I corrected. “He’s very, very special. And for now, it’s best if the Alchemists don’t know he exists. If they want to chase after Sydney and me, fine. But he needs to stay off their radar.”

“I understand,” she said. “If we need anything, I’ll either have it shipped here or send Rose and Dimitri for it, assuming they can leave?”