Torment peeled Alice’s mental grip apart, and the connection vanished. The swarmer was crushed into nonexistence, and Alice gave a full-throated scream as something like a hot poker plunged through her chest.

Chapter Fifteen: Down the Rabbit Hole

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE

“ALICE! ARE YOU all right?”

“I’m okay,” Alice mumbled. Her skin was damp with sweat, and she felt suddenly cold. Her jaw clenched tight, making it hard to talk.

“Can you sit up?”

Alice nodded weakly, and with Soranna’s help she levered herself into a sitting position against the pile of books. The world spun wildly around her for a few moments. Soranna produced her little hip flask of water and offered Alice a drink, which she accepted gratefully. She could feel her muscles beginning to unclench.

“Thank you.”

“It’s nothing,” Soranna said, looking shy. “I . . . owe you. What happened?”

“I found Isaac,” Alice said, handing the flask back. “And Dex. And I think I’ll be able to find Ellen as well. But Torment caught me.”

“Torment?” Soranna looked confused, and Alice remembered she hadn’t explained about the labyrinth.

“I’ll fill you in later,” Alice said. “Right now Dex and Isaac are holed up in a tower, and we need to get over there ourselves. Once we’re all together, we may stand a chance of finding Ellen without getting killed.” She certainly didn’t intend to try the stunt with the swarmers again. It wasn’t only phantom pain she felt when the little creatures died or were forcibly banished; some basic part of her, some energy, was being torn away. “Give me a minute, and I’ll see if I can find a path.”

Soranna nodded. They passed a moment in silence. Alice was content to simply breathe.

“You’re very brave,” the girl said, after a while. “It caused you so much pain, but you kept going.”

“It’s not courage so much as stubbornness,” Alice said frankly. Her lips curled back from her teeth in a grim smile. “I don’t like to lose.”

When Alice felt strong enough to walk, she got to her feet, and reached out again for the strange, slippery fabric of the labyrinth.

Torment was surely watching her now. But—in spite of his boasts—he couldn’t be everywhere at once. Once she opened a path, they’d have a moment to slip through before the labyrinthine could interfere.

“Take my hand,” Alice said. “And be ready to run when I say.”

She put out her hand to Soranna and concentrated. After a moment, when the girl hadn’t moved, Alice looked back at her.

“Is something wrong?”

“N . . . no,” Soranna said. She held out her hand to Alice, tentatively, like a small bird testing a perch. Alice grabbed her tight by the wrist and grinned at her surprised squeak.

“Okay,” Alice said. “Follow me.”