Damn it. Goddamn it.
Why couldn’t I be strong, like my mother had always been? Strong like Rans? I bet he’d never had a full-on, proper panic attack in his centuries-long life. I tried to breathe through the physical reaction, hearing the raspy gasps echoing louder than they should in the enclosed space. Fuck, I was trapped in here with no doors or windows... fuck fuck fuck...
The attack continued for long minutes, measured by the tripping beats of my heart. When it finally subsided, I was trembling, soaked with clammy sweat that beaded chilly and unpleasant on my skin in the cool air of the tree-cell. I covered my face with my hands and shook.
Eventually, I recovered enough to try and think rationally again. The area around me was growing darker and more shadowed as the sun crept across the afternoon sky. I should do a detailed examination of the walls while I could still see my surroundings. Rising on rubbery legs, I placed a hand on the wood next to me and started to feel around, gaining little more than a collection of splinters for my troubles.
Despite the hollowed-out center, the massive tree wasn’t rotten. The wood was hard and dense. I picked at a rough area with my thumbnail, and was only able to peel away a tiny sliver before the nail tore. I yelped and sucked on it until the sting subsided.
With the right tools, I could have chipped away at the wall, I was sure... though of course there was no way of knowing whether two inches or two feet of wood lay between me and freedom. And there was also the small matter of my captors not having conveniently left me a hammer and chisel to use—much less a pickaxe.
You should already own these tools, Zorah.
The memory of my father’s voice brought an ugly noise to my throat that might have been a bitter laugh, along with a telltale burn at the back of my eyes.
Yeah, thanks Dad. Big help there.
Did I have anything useful with me? Nothing in the pile of supplies was hard or sharp enough to help me with the task. I was wearing jeans, a t-shirt, and sneakers. My belt had a metal buckle on it, but I couldn’t think of any way it would be useful.
I caught my breath, my hand flying to my pocket.
I still had my little cell phone. Obviously, relying on cellular service in Dhuinne was a non-starter, but I could at least keep track of the time and have some light once the sun slipped too low in the sky to illuminate my surroundings. I pulled it out and flipped the cover up, powering it on.
Maybe I should have sprung for smartphones when I bought the two burners back in St. Louis, but money had been a real concern at the time. Still, a proper flashlight app would have come in really handy in my current position.
The flip-phone seemed to take longer than it should have to power up. Rather than the usual service provider logo and tinny musical flourish, the screen flickered erratically. Random numbers flashed for a bare instant before the LCD display darkened into blue-black swirls, like someone dropping ink into a glass of water. The screen’s illumination flared a final couple of times and died, after which no amount of shaking it or mashing the power button made any difference.
My heart sank, the phone slipping from my numb fingers to drop onto the dirt at my feet. Fae magic is hard on tech, Rans had said. Once again, I was reminded of the dashboard clock in Albigard’s car, flashing in random, nonsensical segments. It made sense, I supposed—you couldn’t get much more exposure to Fae magic than actually being in Dhuinne.
I shivered again, partly because the cool air against my sweaty skin was making me cold, and partly because I would now be stuck in the pitch black if they left me here overnight. The dead phone, my clothing, and the pile of Fae stuff I couldn’t use without risking more Bad Things happening constituted the sum total of what I had access to in this place.
I was hungry, thirsty, cold, and I’d barely slept last night. It seemed pretty clear that the most productive thing I could do right now was to try to get some rest in preparation for whatever was going to happen next. I returned to my spot next to the wall, my foot knocking against the abandoned phone in the deepening gloom.
Letting my head tip back, I gazed up at the sky far above me with unfocused eyes. Outside, it was still daylight, though very little of that light now reached the depths of the hollow tree where I was huddled. Even with my arms wrapped around my knees, I was still badly chilled. The woolen blanket tormented me with its presence mere feet away.
How could the Fae possibly know if I was folded up over here, or wrapped around you? it whispered in its stupid imaginary blanket-voice. Why be cold and miserable if you don’t have to be?
I closed my eyes, cutting off my view of the distant light above. After a few minutes, I scuffled around, pulling my arms inside the armholes of the thin cotton shirt and wrapping them around my middle. It didn’t help much.
Rest, I reminded myself. Try to get some sleep. Maybe something will happen in the morning.
I kept my eyes stubbornly closed, but rather than shut down, my brain decided that this would be a fantastic time for a rousing game of that old classic, second-guess every decision you’ve ever made in your entire life.
So I did that for a while.
Then I played what will Rans do when he wakes up to find you gone, which was no better. Since the two obvious
