left of her heart broke at the sight of him in such pain. She didn’t tell herself to move, but her feet began walking toward him nevertheless. Amanda reached out, and his strong hand rose to meet hers. As their fingertips touched, she felt his energy pass into her. She smiled as her fragile heart fluttered in her chest like a bird in its cage.
Madgie pulled the two of them apart angrily and chastised them. “Every Healer in the Hovel no matter how thick felt that flood of emotion. I’m sorry, Amanda, I have no backup plan. We’ll be found out,” she said, her voice caked in sorrow.
Amanda tried to sense a change, hoping not to find one, but had no such luck. She felt the stillness of the Hovel, as all of the people in its walls interpreted the meaning of what had just hit them. Her eyes grew wide as the tranquility of the place transformed into utter chaos. They knew she was trying to leave.
Cole’s face mirrored hers. He grabbed her hand tightly and began scaling the stairs two at a time, dragging her behind him.
Madgie was on their heels shouting at them. “You morons wait until now to figure out that you’re in love with one another? Everyone else around here has known for years and been waiting to bust you for it. You couldn’t have asked for a more poorly timed moment. Where are you taking us, you idiot?” she grumbled.
Cole didn’t turn to speak so Amanda couldn’t see them, but when he spoke, she knew his dimples had returned. “Sorry, Madgie, I never found an opportune moment. Amanda always seems to be in trouble.”
She thought about drawing her hand back in protest, but she liked where it was too much to be stubborn. “I’m not always in trouble!”
Madgie rolled her eyes at the pair of them as she spoke. “Not to interrupt the cute banter you two have going here, but we’re all going to die if we don’t find a way out of the Hovel!”
“I know, and I won’t let that happen.” Cole spoke softly and seriously.
He stopped ascending two floors beneath the Hovel’s entrance and took a sharp left, leading them down the corridor to the male dormitories. Amanda hoped he had some sort of plan worked out. They were still two stories underground, surrounded by Healers.
He took an awkward pattern of lefts and rights, attempting to avoid the array of pursuers, but it was getting more difficult to sense individuals in the upheaval.
She had no idea where he was headed, but it felt to her like they were just making unceremonious circles. As they rounded the same corner for a second time, Cole stopped short, immediately on guard. Amanda looked past him and saw the kindly face of the man who had been speaking of her in the hall as she passed. She felt Cole gather energy as he put a shield between them and the older gentleman.
He smiled and began to speak in a soft voice. “No need for that, young man, I just came to tell Amanda good luck,” he said as he raised his hands in a non-confrontational way. “Oh, and Cole, if you’re looking for the door, it has popped up just down there.” He gestured down the hallway with a smile.
“I was lucky to find you, and my good luck will go to waste if you dawdle, so get on your way. I hope to see you in happier times, my dear. You are one person I would love to talk to. I’ve never felt such strength. You have so much love to give, too much perhaps,” he said as he moved to the side of the hallway, waiting for them to pass.
Madgie smiled brightly. “Thank you, Finn, you are truly a friend.”
Cole hesitated a moment before walking past the old man, but once they had cleared him, he picked up the pace. He flat out ran until he came to a small round door that seemed completely out of place, halfway covering another door on the wall. Amanda heard rushing footsteps drifting down the hallway. Cole grabbed the knob and flung it open. Madgie quickly slipped through. Cole climbed in after pulling Amanda in behind him. She reached back to shut it, and just as her palm met the warm wood, she saw the angry face of a familiar Healer.
He was someone she knew by name but had never grown close to. Frey had always looked down at her for fleeing the Hovel and trying to be normal. He loved being a Healer and having the power they possessed. Most Healers had a bad taste in their mouths about her, but he was the worst of them all. Looking at her as if she was garbage, and maybe that was deserved. But she wasn’t the only one unsettled by him. When he walked into the room, it seemed to still as collective prey before a predator. His hand lashed out like a striking snake, bringing her out of her shock, but he wasn’t fast enough.
She slammed the door shut and searched for a lock that wasn’t there. She braced herself tightly against the door, but to her surprise, he didn’t put up any more effort to open it. Why wasn’t he trying to get in? He could blast this thing right off its hinges if he wanted to. She looked at Cole.
“The door teleported when you shut it. Just in time too. Good-looking and handy in a tight spot.” He smiled down at her with laughter dancing in his eyes.
“What are you talking about, teleported?” she asked.
“The door moves locations each time this room is entered. It takes awhile to pop back up, and they still need to figure out where in the Hovel it landed. So we should be safe while we search.” She looked at him dumbfounded. “What? The girl’s dorm doesn’t have one of these?” he asked her.
“No, the girl’s dormitory doesn’t have one of these. And what are we searching for?” she asked.
“Some time ago an Ancient harnessed the energy of Scars and put it in this room for study. It is a small point of energy that takes people to places like a Scar takes you to a memory. Just touch it and you are elsewhere. Where you come out is different every time, Africa, Ireland, don’t know until you’re there. That’s why the room is this way. They didn’t know it at the time, but that little pin prick of energy affected this lab. Now it moves with each entrance just as a Scar does,” Madgie answered.
Amanda huffed. Just when she thought she had a firm grasp on everything, they slap her with something new to wrap her mind around.
“Okay, so where does this energy ball thing like to hang out?” she asked.
Cole glanced around the room. “I don’t know. It’s hard to find. It moves every time like the room, and Madgie wasn’t joking when she referred to it as a pinpoint of energy. Just make like a raccoon and look for something small and shiny, got it?”
Amanda smiled at his undeniable cuteness and began to search. She wasn’t used to having her walls down, and the last few days had pretty well blown them down completely. Lying naked on a lab table, crying and screaming in pain, being sentenced to death with no one objecting — yeah, that’ll do it. They fanned out in opposite directions, scanning every inch of the room. There were thick books stacked high along the walls and large tables with numerous drawers down the front of them. She doubted they could find a pinprick in all of the mess.
As time passed, she grew more and more nervous and found herself glancing at the door every few seconds. She knew she wasn’t the only one. She felt Madgie’s anxiety and saw that Cole’s demeanor had lost all lightness. As Amanda was looking at Cole, she noticed a jacket lying crumpled on a chair. She went to it, not sure why it had caught her eye. Amanda picked the jacket up slowly and looked it over. It was an unremarkable thing, dark grey like so many others in the Hovel and made of wool so scratchy that she felt sorry for its owner.
It was an ugly jacket and nothing more. She was frustrated with herself for wasting time and went to throw it back down when something caught her eye. Amanda brought the jacket in close and saw the bright light in its front pocket. “Here, it’s here! I found it.”
Cole and Madgie’s heads both shot up, and Amanda smiled brightly at them. She was confused when they didn’t return her smile, but understood as the metal click of a doorknob reached her ears. She quickly turned to see the little round door burst open.
6
Grey-clad figures poured into the room like water from a sieve. They moved as one unit, step for step like toy soldiers wound at the same time. Their uniforms bore no gold tassels or honoring medals. The only thing sparkling was their calf-high, spit-shined boots. Monochromatic from neck to toe, they blended into the grey- colored walls and each other. The sharp points of the heavily starched pleats in their uniforms were the only tell of where one began and the other ended.
