My stiff limbs groan as I shift against the cold stone floor. Slowly, I turn my head, twisting to see my surroundings, orienting myself against the iron bars. I touch the sore muscles in my neck, testing the bruised flesh and swallowing fire. My knees scream as I sit up against the wall, struggling to remember what happened right before I passed out.

A red light winks at me from a new camera mounted by the ceiling.

A clump of fallen stone sits beside my hand, and I consider pitching it at the camera’s lens. But then Doug would only send someone to replace it. Maybe he’d even come himself. And I’m not ready to face him again.

I rub my temple where Lixue cuffed me, listening to the soft snores coming from the direction of Chill’s cell, praying that he was wrong. That Jack’s not coming. Praying that Doug was lying about the others.

A shadow moves in the corridor. A cold draft ruffles my hair as a filmy gray smaze darts between the bars into my cell. It tumbles like an angry cloud, as if it’s aggravated or impatient, circling my head and then doubling back. I hurl a handful of rubble at it, rubbing the warmth back into my arms as it zips away.

A steady march of boots echoes from the catacombs. I push myself to my feet as Lixue stops in front of my cell. Her hands are empty. No water. No food. The same huge Guard I saw before stands behind her.

“What do you want?” It hurts to speak, and the words come out hoarse. Unease sets in as she works a key into the lock.

“Chronos wants to see you.” She slings open the door, and I back away from the huge Guard as he steps inside my cell. He smiles, a little sheepish as he snaps a set of shackles around my wrists before gently escorting me out.

I try to pay attention to our route as I’m marched through the winding tunnels, but after two or three turns, they all look the same. The passageways are dark, the torchlight casting shadows that make it hard to see. Bits of broken shale dig into my bare feet as the Guards follow me up a narrow spiral stairway.

At the top, Lixue pushes open a metal door. Bright white light streams through the gap, and I narrow my eyes like some kind of surfacing mole. A long hall runs to my left. Another to my right. After the trip through the dim tunnels, the shiny floor tiles and pristine white walls are almost blinding, but I’m sure I’ve never been in this part of the Observatory before.