Alanah blinked, and warnings fired off in my gut.
“Bee, I don’t like this,” Dahlia breathed. “Let’s just go back—”
“No,” I cut her off, making my decision.
Regardless of where it led, it wasn’t back to a locked room where Jesse could reach us any time he wanted. Anywhere was better than where we were. I tugged on my sister’s hand.
“Come on.”
“Bee!”
“Shh!”
I yanked her through the wall and offered Alanah a grateful smile.
“Thank you.”
She responded by closing the wall in around us. In pitch blackness, Dahlia’s breaths quickened.
“I-I don’t like this, Bianca!”
“Keep your voice down!” I hissed. “We don’t want anyone to hear us!”
With my free hand, I reached out to touch the walls at my side, feeling my way while pulling my reluctant twin with me.
“We need to go back!”
“Stop it!” I whiplashed. “Stop fighting and work with me!”
Dahlia sniffled, but she swallowed the rest of her protests. After several minutes, my fingers finally closed in around a latch of sorts, and my heart jumped into my throat.
“I found another door!” I squeaked, nervous excitement overcoming me. “I think we’re free, Dahlia!”
She said nothing when I pulled, and a blast of cold air met my nostrils. Dank air flooded us, and dim light showed the outline of a cold cellar, fueling my exhilaration. It was a cellar of sorts, one I didn’t recognize, obviously, but it told me that we were outside. Outside meant one step closer to getting off the property—if we weren’t already. And we were together. This was exactly what I’d wanted from the start. From here, we could figure it out. We would be okay.
“What is this place?”
“The cellar,” I replied, closing the wall at my back and urging her forward. The unit was quiet, and I quickly found a door, rushing to push it open. Night blanketed us instantly, and I laughed aloud. We were on the far end of the compound, the wife trailers almost specks.
“This way!” I tittered, nodding away from the trailer and the house. “We’ll get out and head back into Covale City. We can lose ourselves in there for a while. Jesse won’t come looking for us there.”
Dahlia panted, hurrying to keep stride, but I could tell the effort was already exerting her. I pursed my lips and shook my head. We would make it.
“Come on, Dahlia,” I pleaded. “We’ve got darkness on our side. Once we get out of here—”
The cock of a shotgun stopped me mid-sentence.
“You’ll get back to your rooms if you know what’s good for you,” our father snarled. “Or I’ll shoot you dead where you stand, Bianca.”
Chapter22
Atlas
It took a day to round up enough solid beings to accompany me on what was ultimately the most important decision I had made in centuries. Several times, I almost called the whole thing off, knowing that I was playing with fire, even if I tried to convince myself I wasn’t.
Sage wanted no part of any of it and quickly spread the word of what I was trying to do.
I heard the grumblings even before I went on my search, and although the resistance was evident, they didn’t give me much of a fight when confronted with the opportunity. For all their reservations, they were still very much my people.