At least they hadn’t been the only pair to be challenged this time or even the first pair to be challenged—that questionable honor had gone to the other remaining Firsts in the competition—Caleb and Gabby from the Oceanic College, who’d been challenged by François and Xolani.
Allyra and Jason were up against Aiden and Dave, the Fourths from the Atmospheric College. Aiden and Dave were both Infernos and had been high on the list of favorites in The Five Finals, but they’d had a poor showing in the First Final, coming in only tenth. Now a challenge was their attempt at redemption or at least regaining some lost dignity.
Allyra and Jason had moved through the Tunnels swiftly. They’d run into a couple of Sentinels but had barely broken their stride in getting past them. There was still a lingering sense of distrust between them, but in the last few months, under Master Akerman’s critical tutelage, some semblance of teamwork had grown between them.
The Tunnel wall shifted violently, and Allyra leaped to the side to avoid being squashed like a bug, making sure to pull Jason with her.
Jason got back to his feet, studying a long scrape on his arm. “Have I said how much I hate this place?” he asked, shaking his head in disgust.
But she wasn’t looking at him, her attention captured by the dark room they suddenly found themselves in. It was a room filled with cots, one she’d seen before. Frantically, Allyra started searching through the cots, fumbling through the bed sheets, searching for a pair of piercing green eyes, for the Cleaner she’d promised to help.
Each cot was filled with Cleaners, their silver masks covering their faces, but it was impossible to mistake their sunken appearances. Paper-thin skin did a poor job of hiding jutting bones.
“What is this place?” Jason asked, horror clear in his voice.
Allyra ignored him, continuing her desperate search through the cots. Even as she pushed aside blankets and shook each Cleaner, none of them responded—trapped in a deep but troubled sleep.
The wall moved loudly behind her, but Allyra was oblivious to it, her mind caught up in a promise she’d made to the green-eyed Cleaner. His pain and fear were as clear as newly blown glass in her mind, and she could feel them as if they were her own. Surely, that pain had been real, and surely, it couldn’t be so easily forgotten. The green-eyed Cleaner couldn’t be François, monstrous and arrogant, who’d looked at her without even the slightest hint of recognition.
Jason grabbed her arm and tried to drag her from the room. She fought him unthinkingly and was rewarded with a sound slap across her face.
“Are you insane? Get your mind back! We need to get out of here,” he whispered angrily. “This is none of our business. Anyone could come in and find us.”
She lifted her hand to her face, where she could still feel the sting of his slap. For a second, she felt nothing but a deep loathing for Jason, but the pain had snapped her from her thoughts.
“Anyone, but most probably a Revenant,” she replied, vengefully trying to shock him. What did it matter? Soon enough, he wouldn’t remember any of this.
Her words resulted in the desired effect. He gaped at her. “Have you lost your mind? What are you saying?”
“A Revenant was here—I’m sure of it—sucking the life out of these Cleaners. We have to help them.”
Jason pulled her away from the cot she was still searching and forced her to look at him. “A Revenant?” he hissed. “Explain—before you get us into any more trouble.”
“I remember everything,” she said scathingly, throwing the words at him. “I have a Gift for the past. These Tunnels have no power over me. I remember every time I’ve been down here—the Second Trial of the Elemental Trials, the first challenge when we beat Don and Clara. That’s how I know the Sentinels won’t follow us or how Rosalie killed Pierre or the fact there’s a Revenant down here feeding on Cleaners.”
Realization, surprise, and then panic, the—emotions flashed on and off his face like railcars flying by on a high-speed train. The emotion that lingered was fear or as close to fear as Jason was capable of displaying. His fingers tightened on her wrist. “We need to get out of here,” he said, his voice barely a whisper and saturated with fear.
“No,” she replied emphatically, “I’m not walking out a second time.”
“You don’t know what you’re saying. If, if, there’s a Revenant here, we wouldn’t stand a chance against it.”
“And your solution would be to just leave these Cleaners to suffer?” she spat out at him, shaking her arm free from his fingers. “I never did think much of you, but I never thought you were a coward.”
“I don’t give a damn what you think about me. Mostly because you don’t know anything about me. And worse, you don’t know anything about the Gifted. You’re uneducated and ill-informed and self-righteous enough to think you always know best. You think you can just jump in and play hero, but the truth is—a Revenant would squash you like a cockroach.” Whatever fear he’d felt was gone now, replaced by an icy contempt.
“I know what I’m doing,” she said. “I’ve fought a Revenant before.”
His hand shot out and grabbed her shirt. Before she could react, he’d pulled it up, baring her ribs and the jagged scar scrawled across them to the cool air.
“Is that how you got this scar?” he mocked. “By winning the fight against the Revenant.”
Allyra shoved him away. “I’m better prepared now.”
Jason tilted his head to the side and considered her.
