Alice cleared her throat. “Make sure you thank Soranna too. I don’t know how I would have gotten you out without her.”

“Of course,” he said, and there was a long silence until Isaac shifted uneasily.

“So,” he said. “What now?”

“I think Ellen is somewhere below us,” Alice said, feeling for the faint buzz through the fabric of the labyrinth. There was a distinct tone that meant human, or possibly intruder, easy to distinguish from the creatures that belonged. “I’m going to go down and see if I can find her.”

“By yourself?”

“Dex can’t walk, and you should stay with her. And Soranna . . . she’s done a great job, but she’s scared. I’ve got the Dragon’s power, so if worst comes to worst I should be able to get away and find you again afterward.”

Isaac’s expression said he didn’t like it, but he couldn’t find any fault in her logic.

Alice crept down the tower stairs with the Swarm thread wrapped around her, hardening her skin in case something leaped out at her. Her greatest fear—and the real reason she’d insisted on going alone—was that Torment would try to separate them again. As long as she had the Dragon’s gift, she could rejoin the other three, whatever the labyrinthine tried to do.

For the moment, the fabric of the labyrinth seemed free of Torment’s touch. Alice descended three levels, walking round and round the wide spiral staircase. The tower contained nothing more than the usual mounds of moldering books. Alice thought she’d done more running in the past few hours than she had in her entire life to date, and she tried to ignore the strident protests from her legs. How long has it been since we got here, anyway? With no sun overhead, she’d completely lost track of time.

A thump brought her mind back to the present, and she slowed as she approached the next level. She could hear footsteps, and then a muffled grunt and another heavy thump, as though someone was moving something heavy. White light played across the stones of the landing, moving and shifting along with the noises. That has to be Ellen’s halo. She paused in the doorway, just out of sight. Better not to sneak up on her.

“Ellen?” she said. “That’s you, isn’t it?”

There was a clatter and thump, and a brief silence. Ellen’s voice was as sharp and strident as Alice remembered. “Who’s there?”

“It’s me, Alice. I’ve come to get you.”

“You—” Ellen paused. “Come out where I can see you.”