Alina shook, but held the blade steady. She knew what Rex told her to do. She had to get to Carthem, on her own if she must. But she couldn’t go without them. Not while she could see them and hear their voices.
“Let’s come to an agreement,” Sampson said smoothly.
“Alina,” Rex begged. “Please go, before he tricks you out of it. Don’t worry about us!”
Alina stared at Sampson. She could see the fear in his eyes.
“I have a proposal for you,” he said in a honeyed voice. “You stay here with me and share my power. I’m at your mercy. You know I’ll do anything to protect you. I’ll destroy the machine—come with me now and watch me. You’ll have me in the palm of your hand. I can make you famous, beautiful—whatever you like.”
Alina laughed. “Remember my ‘pathetic act’? You know I hate Pria and care nothing about being famous.”
“You don’t want to go to Carthem,” he said. “Trust me.”
“And why wouldn’t I?”
He grinned smugly. “There’s no one there for you. Your father is dead. I killed him myself.”
Her heart paused, but she didn’t move. “Unlock all of them,” she demanded. “Then we’ll talk about this proposal.”
Sampson set his jaw and glared at her.
“NOW!” she screamed, her knuckles turning white around the dagger’s hilt.
He lurched forward and punched the code on Rex’s cell, then moved to Jade’s and Zaiden’s cells. Alina didn’t take her eyes off Sampson, but from the corner of her eye she saw Rex and Jade join her in the corridor. As Zaiden exited his cell, her eyes flickered in his direction.
Sampson pounced on her and she leaped back, thrusting the dagger at him. He dodged it, and she ducked and spun around, swiping the legs of Rex, Jade, and Zaiden. She felt Sampson’s fierce hands grasp her hair and yank her back, and as the dagger fell from her hands, she stretched out her leg to catch it. The blade grazed her ankle before clanging to the ground.
Sampson’s eyes widened in horror and his scream filled the dungeon. He fumbled for the dagger and lunged at Alina, but she felt nothing. He looked beyond her, and his lips twisted into a triumphant grin—the last view she saw before everything went dark.
A sharp burst of light flashed around Alina. She felt the comfort before she opened her eyes—a warm tingling in her veins that invigorated her. She blinked twice, sprang to her feet, and found herself in a field of tall, wiry grass. The wildflowers were pale compared to the vibrant ones of Pria, and the sky was a bleak gray, but Alina considered it the most beautiful place she’d ever seen. Carthem had a raw, unrefined beauty, accepting her as one of its own.
A deep moan broke her from her reverie. Rex writhed in the grass, blood saturating the leg of his uniform. Jade lay still, the blood from her wound trickling through a tear on her dress.
“Rex, Jade, are you okay?” Alina asked. She glanced around. “Where’s Zaiden?”
She dropped to the ground and rolled Jade onto her back, then gasped at her chalky white face.
“Jade!” Alina screamed, shaking her.
Jade gave a soft mumble, and Alina pressed her hand over her heart. “What do you need?” she asked.
“Water,” Jade whispered.
Alina looked around. They would have to walk to find some. She cradled Jade’s head in her lap. “We’ll get some. I’ll go, or Rex—”
Rex interrupted her with a loud shriek. She jumped, bouncing Jade’s head. “What is it, Rex?”
He was on his back with his eyes closed, releasing a low, continuous moan.
“Are you okay?” Alina asked him.
He opened one eye. “I think I’m dying.”
“What do you mean?”
He sat up and coughed, hacking dramatically, then collapsed back on the ground. “My mouth is sticky—it must be bleeding! And my leg—” he paused, trying to find the right word. “It hurts! I think you cut it off! You sliced me too hard and my leg is gone!”
Alina rolled her eyes and smoothed Jade’s hair. “Sorry, Jade. I thought it was something more urgent.”
“What?” Rex hollered. “This is urgent! I—” A look of terror crossed his face. “I’ll never walk again!”
“Rex,” Alina said, but he couldn’t hear her through his wailing.
“REX!”
He stopped. Alina spoke calmly. “Your leg is fine; it’s just a cut. And the stickiness in your mouth means you’re thirsty.” She stifled a laugh. “You’ve been watching too many horror shows.”
Rex cracked his eyes open to glare at her. “Have not,” he mumbled.
“Jade needs water, too, and she seems worse than you, if you can believe it. Zaiden’s not here; do you think he ended up somewhere else?”
Rex pushed himself to a sitting position and looked around. “Are you sure you cut him?”
Alina stiffened. “What do you mean? I sliced him, like you two.”
“Did the dagger break the skin?”
“I heard something tear, it must have—”
“Maybe it tore only his pants.”
Alina stood up and looked around, chewing her lip. “No. You’re wrong—he was right there. I felt the blade cut something.” She closed her eyes and pictured herself swiping Rex, Jade, and then Zaiden. Sampson pulled her hair, and she stuck out her ankle to catch the blade. Zaiden was standing next to her—no, behind her.
Then Sampson flashed his horrible smirk. As she faded from Pria, he noticed Zaiden behind her, solid and present as ever. Zaiden wasn’t as valuable as Alina, but Sampson could make good use of him.
Her heart tightened with panic. “Y-you don’t think he might’ve landed somewhere else?”
“I don’t see how,” Rex said. “We all came here. He should be with us.”
Alina’s legs shook beneath her. She dropped to the ground and pulled her knees to her chest, hiding her face in her arms.
Zaiden risked everything to follow her when she was taken. He had looked at her from his cell as if—she wanted to believe—he felt something for her. And she’d left him in Sampson’s dungeon, where he’d be mentally tortured until—no,
