Page 129 of Freeing Hook

“Astor.” I tap my foot against the rocks.

“I’m not leaving you.”

My heart shoots into my throat, but I shoo it back into a more reasonable place. “Technically, I’m alone in here with that wall separating us. You could get me out faster if you had help.”

Another pause. “Are you afraid?”

I bite my lip, checking my surroundings. “I don’t particularly love the idea of being back here with a creepy dead Seer, but no, I wouldn’t say I’m afraid. Just a little shaken up from the fall.”

“Then wait there until I can dig you out.”

I roll my eyes, listening as rocks scrape against each other as Astor removes them. I’m reaching for one on my side, intent on helping and about to ask what he thinks made the ceiling cave in, when he calls my name.

“Wendy Darling.”

“Yes?” I ask.

“I didn’t say anything,” says a muffled Astor from the other side.

“Wendy Darling,” I hear from behind.

My stomach twists, and I turn with it. The tunnel is dark, except for the glowing lichen that line its walls, casting a blueish hue across the space.

“Astor,” I whisper. “I think the Seer knows I’m here.”

The scraping of rock against rock grows faster. “Then you’d best help me move these rocks,” he says.

“Hurry, Wendy,” whispers the voice. “We don’t have much time.”

Slowly, I hoist myself from the wall of fallen rocks. I chew on the inside of my cheek and squint, knowing I’m going to regret this. But still, I take a quiet step. When Astor’s movements don’t change pace on the other side, I take another step.

This one is louder.

“Darling?Wendy,” Astor says, almost as if scolding me. “Please don’t tell me you’re wandering down the tunnel after a strange voice.”

“I’ve been told before that I am fairly slow-witted.” I say it teasingly, even though my heart is about to explode out of my chest from apprehension.

“Don’t you dare go down that tunnel without me.” There’s a hint of panic in his voice, infusing his otherwise commanding presence. I want nothing more than to obey him—that’s my first impulse.

But down the hall, someone calls my name. “Wendy, if you want to save him, you have to come now.”

Save him? My heart pounds wildly at the thought that Astor might be in danger. “How do I know I can trust you?” I ask.

“Because, Darling, I—” Astor must realize I’m not speaking to him, because he snaps his teeth together.

The wistful voice doesn’t answer my question, but there’s something about it that’s as familiar as a childhood dream. Something about it that feels safe.

“Wendy, I’m begging you to wait,” says Astor.

I bite my lip and follow the voice down the hall.

The voice leadsme down the tunnel. It has no body that I can see, but I might have expected that from a ghost. It’s not until we reach a wide-mouthed cave that the voice swells louder, reverberating all around me. Only, in the cave I can no longer make out the words the spirit speaks to me. It’s as if the soundhas expanded to fit the space of the cave, rendering it no longer intelligible.

My mouth is dry, but I take the calling stone from my pocket and utter the spell given to me by the Nomad all the same. For a moment, it seems as though nothing has happened. But soon after, a rush of wind fills the cave, coming from nowhere and all directions. It brings with it grayish lights that melt together until before me stands the imprint of a woman.

I’m not sure what I was expecting from the Seer. Probably someone decrepit, wrinkled. She is dead, after all.

But the ghoulish woman standing before me is none of those things.

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