“I really didn’t expect that,” I remarked, scanning it for any writing or clues. There were none.

Anger filled Eddie’s features, laced with something I felt too: disappointment. I hadn’t known what we’d discover here, but there’d been a secret part of me that had hoped for a miracle and that we’d find Jill herself. Instead, all we had to show for this trip were some cuts and more cryptic clues. I shook the envelope. It felt empty.

“What on earth could this mean?” mused Ms. Terwilliger, taking the map from me.

“It means someone’s playing with us,” growled Eddie. He wiped a hand over his sweaty forehead, smearing blood in the process. “For all we know, Jill isn’t even involved in this, and someone’s just making us think they have her.”

I peered inside the envelope, and my heart sank when I realized it wasn’t empty after all. “I’m afraid not.” I reached into it and pulled out the envelope’s last item. Even in the poor lighting, there was no mistaking what this was: a lock of long, curling, light brown hair. And there was no question to whom it belonged. “Whoever’s doing this, they definitely have Jill.”

CHAPTER 5: ADRIAN

CHAPTER 5

ADRIAN

IT TOOK EVERY BIT OF MY ALREADY QUESTIONABLE self-control not to constantly text and call Sydney for updates. I hadn’t realized how hard her absence would hit me. It wasn’t just missing her—though that was certainly part of it. I’d gotten used to waking up to her every morning, to seeing her around for meals and other ordinary parts of life. Now, I didn’t just have to pass the time without her; I had to also constantly reassure myself that she wasn’t in the clutches of the Alchemists.

“I shouldn’t have let her go alone,” I told my mom the next day.

She glanced up from her cross-stitching. It was a hobby she’d taken up to pass the time and was only slightly less astonishing than everything else going on in our lives recently. “You worry too much, darling. If there’s one thing I can say about my human daughter-in-law, it’s that she’s shockingly resourceful.”

I stopped my pacing. “You really think so?”

A wry smile played over my mom’s lips. “Are you surprised that I’d have something nice to say about her?”