Rose was obviously waiting for an opening to get back through, and a shift in Sydney’s stance told me she’d seen them behind the demon. She threw a fireball wide, one that wasn’t specifically aimed at a head but which forced the creature to rear toward the side of the corridor. Rose recognized her opportunity and hurried forward, half dragging Jill along the way. A cluster of tentacles made contact with Rose’s leg, and I stopped breathing—but then a rapid and well-placed fireball took out a fourth head. The creature let go and turned its wrath on Sydney as Rose broke through and got Jill to the stairs.

In a flash, Eddie and Neil were at her side, helping Rose bring her up. My stomach twisted as I took in the sight of Jill, and I had an unwelcome sense of déjà vu back to the time when we’d finally found Sydney in the depths of the re-education center. Jill’s condition was similar. She’d lost a considerable amount of weight, and her skin was pale, even by Moroi standards. She was in dirty, rumpled pajamas—what she’d been kidnapped in, no doubt—and it looked as though they hadn’t really let her bathe either. Her pupils were slightly dilated, which confirmed they’d given her some kind of drug that had interfered with me reaching her in dreams.

“Are you okay?” I asked. I drew spirit into me, prepared to heal her.

“N-no, don’t do it,” she warned. Even drugged, the bond must have still been working. That, or she simply knew me well enough by now to guess what I’d do. It took her a few seconds to form the rest of her words. “I . . . I’m just weak. Hungry. They gave me animal blood.”

My stomach turned at that. Moroi could survive on animal blood, but “survive” was about the kindest way you could put it. We’d stay alive but lose a lot of strength and energy. There were always stories that popped up once in a while about some Moroi family that got trapped without a feeder for a week or so and had to feed off animals. They’d emerge weak and debilitated, making for sensational headlines in Moroi news. I couldn’t even imagine what shape Jill must be in after a month of that. It explained why she could barely stand.

Still, the instinct was there to help her anyway, to give her a boost with spirit. “No,” she said sharply, again anticipating me. “Just get me to a feeder. And get someone out to the back of this property. There’s a shed there with another basement prison.”

“I’ll take her to a feeder,” said Eddie, starting to move her up the stairs. Rose helped by supporting Jill’s other side.