I don’t respond. All I do is spin on my heel and stride through the door that Arryn opens in the glass wall, not looking back.

*

It takes hours for Cami to fall asleep.

I’ve been counting the minutes, impatiently waiting for her to finally succumb.

I know she’s devastated; I know because I am, too. It should have worked—Kael’s ability should have nullified Ward’s long enough for mine to free him. I saw the light flare, I know my intent was focused and strong. I know my words were filled with power.

What I don’t know is how Ward was able to protect himself from my command.

I’ve been tossing and turning as the seconds ticked by, but with Cami now lightly snoring, I’m confident I can leave without waking her. There’s somewhere I have to go, someone I need to talk to. Alone.

I rise from my bed and pull a hoodie over my pajamas, tugging on a pair of boots and silently leaving the room. With the inhabitants of the catacombs fast asleep, I can travel the passageways without pause, without question, moving along like a wraith.

Before I can convince myself that this is a bad idea, I’m opening the trapdoor and climbing down the ladder, halting only when I’m staring through the glass into Ward’s cell.

He’s not where I last saw him.

No longer bound to the mattress, he’s on his feet, leaning against the wall, as if he was waiting for me. He’s removed his jacket, his fitted white T-shirt revealing the cuts from Vanik’s lab as well as angry red marks circling his wrists, the skin raw and bruised from whatever he did to free himself from the shackles. The only reason he’s still in the cell is because it can only be opened from the outside, proving Kael’s “better safe than sorry” theory.

“I was wondering when you’d come.”

My eyes close as his words hit me, the same ones he uttered upon seeing Cami and me at Lengard. I’m not willing to play these mental games with him. Not when I feel like I’m barely hanging on by a thread.

“How long?” I rasp.

He doesn’t ask what I mean. “Twenty-four hours. Maybe more. Probably less.”

Unable to stay on my feet, I stagger over to where the glass barrier meets the limestone wall and slide down it, the coarse stone scratching my back through the material of my hoodie. I barely feel it, drawing my knees up to my chest and wrapping my arms around them. I know I must look pitiful right now. I can’t bring myself to care.