Isaac swayed on his feet, his eyes unfocused. Alice grabbed him by the back of his trench coat and pulled him into a run. They covered the last few yards to the doorway, which from this side looked like nothing but a hole, and Alice reached out to take hold of Soranna with her other hand. Dex, getting the idea, grabbed Soranna. The last thing we need is for Torment to send one of us off alone. She wasn’t certain the labyrinthine could separate them if they stayed close together, but . . .

Alice reached out for the fabric, pinching a path between the other side of the doorway and the roof of a distant tower. She felt, just for a moment, the buzzing tension of someone else moving through the labyrinth, and tried to get as close to it as she could. Then she stepped forward, pulling the others with her.

Chapter Seventeen: Together Again

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

TOGETHER AGAIN

THEY TUMBLED OUT onto the tower roof together, four apprentices and a heap of bouncing swarmers. Alice let go of her thread, and the little creatures vanished with a string of pops like firecrackers. Once she was sure everyone had made it, she let go of her hold on the fabric as well before Torment could interfere.

Then she lay back and concentrated on breathing for a while. Overhead, the stars looked down in cold splendor, and torches flickered and crackled nearby. Someone was laughing, but it was a few moments before Alice had the energy to raise her head and discover who. It turned out to be Dex, and Alice rolled over and crawled to where the girl was lying.

“Are you all right?”

“Just surprised, Sister Alice,” Dex said, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. “And a touch lacerated about the shins, but that is only a matter of the flesh. I told Brother Isaac that my auguries hinted we would escape, but even so, your arrival was startling.”

Alice looked down Dex’s leg and found the wound, now wrapped tightly in a strip of cloth. A little blood had soaked through, but not too much, so Alice guessed it was okay for the moment. When I get back, I’m going to dig up a book on first aid. She shuffled over to Soranna, who was sitting up and coughing weakly.

“How did we end up here?” Isaac said. “This isn’t the way we came in.”

“It’s a labyrinth,” Alice said. “It’s hard to explain, but I can control it, a little. I thought we ought to get as far away as we could.” She looked down at the stone roof of the tower. “Besides, I think Ellen is nearby.”

“How do you know?” Isaac said.

Alice shrugged. “I can . . . feel her. Sort of.”