I shivered and wrapped my arms around myself. Someone must have left the air conditioner blasting. I wondered if they’d done it on purpose, to make this place even less inviting. As if the faint ammonia smell and the lack of an exit didn’t do that already.
Concrete blocks lined the back wall and sides of my cell. Glass and metal locked me in from the front. I didn’t know how thick the concrete was or what lay on the other side. I figured the glass was the weakest point of my cage, although I doubted it was weak at all. The Mages hadn’t escaped until the security panel was damaged. Just my luck, it had been replaced since then.
I wondered if I could damage the glass from the inside.
Ether is everywhere, Loken had said—which meant it was even in this dank cell. With my eyes closed, I stood still and felt the world around me. Air and ether prickled against my skin. I could feel the difference now. I isolated the ether and summoned it to my fingertips. I didn’t strike right away. Instead, I summoned more.
When I opened my eyes, shimmering light surrounded me, emanating from my hands. I flung it at the glass. It hit with a loud clang, which echoed as the glass vibrated—but remained intact.
“Ra’s saggy tits!” I shouted. My hand flew to my mouth to cover the words. I shrugged off the instinct. I could curse as much as I liked down here. I was alone. And if someone was watching me through a camera—well, they deserved to hear all the curses I could muster.
I made an unladylike hand gesture for the benefit of anyone who might be watching.
I squeezed my eyes shut again and prepared for another attack on the glass. When I opened them, the light of ether shone around me. It didn’t seem as thick as it had been a moment before. This time, I kept the ether around me as a shield and, after sucking in a deep breath, ran at the glass at top speed.
Pain exploded in my shoulder at the impact. I fell to the ground. My teeth clattered as I hit the cement floor, sending more pain shooting up my back. I lay there for a few minutes, curled in a ball, gathering enough will to give it another shot.
Just as I’d decided to get up and try again, light streamed into the basement from the top of the stairs. I sank down onto the cot in the corner, closed my eyes, and made my chest rise and fall in a steady rhythm, like I was asleep.
After a minute, I heard the metal door to my left slide open and the clatter of something being dropped on the floor inside my cell.
I leapt to my feet and flung a bolt of ether at the man standing in the doorway. Not a particularly strong bolt, but enough to shock him. It hit him in the chest. He flew backward into the air, out of the cell. I shot toward the doorway. But even with the man on the ground, the door clanged shut. By the time I reached it, it was closed.
I pounded my fist against it and shouted, “Let me out! Let me out, you sons of . . .”
The man staggered half to his feet, stumbled, and then succeeded in pushing himself off the ground. Scowling, he reached for the security panel. An overhead intercom crackled on.
“The door was set to close automatically.” The man pulled his hand away, and the intercom went off. He clutched his chest and sucked in two deep breaths.
I pointed at the intercom, urging him to turn it back on. He stared at me for a moment, and then complied.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I’m just scared. Are you okay?”
He glared but said nothing.
“Why am I down here instead of upstairs, working out a plan with the other practitioners? We’re on the same side.”
“No.” The man shook his head. “You’re not one of us. You’re something else. More like them—like the Mages. No human could attract Mages from the other side of the continent.” He shook his head again. “You’re not one of us at all.”
He paused, as if waiting for me to respond, but I could summon no words.
“If you behave when your next meal is delivered,” he said, “your other jailer just might let you give him your trash. Otherwise, it’s going to stink up your cell—because I’m not going back in there.” He strode back to the stairs and up without a backward glance.
I’m not like them.
Sure, I was still a little uncontrolled, learning my way around my ability. But I was fully in my right mind. I was no monster. I wasn’t a danger to anyone.
A tray with a plate of food sat to the side of the door. It held a sandwich and what looked like pasta salad. I scarfed down the sandwich in only a few bites and then turned my attention to the pasta. I lifted the plate from the tray, looking for a fork hiding under the plate’s rim. No such luck.
I wondered what damage I could have done with a fork. It wouldn’t have helped me dig through the concrete blocks or break through the glass. But I was denied one anyway. Perhaps I should have taken it as a compliment that I wasn’t trusted with so much as an eating utensil. I ate the pasta one piece at a time, picking up the food with my fingers.
When I’d cleaned the plate, I rested my head back against the wall and scanned the room. I wasn’t getting out of here by force. The Mages who had been in here before, all of whom were more experienced than I was, included two Breathers and an Ethereal. The Ethereal hadn’t been able to escape until the cage had been damaged. If he couldn’t do it, surely I couldn’t either.
A Bender wouldn’t have any trouble getting out. The door was metal, and glass was often composed partially of metallic alloy. I’d have given anything to have Loken here, comforting me—and getting me the hell out of here. Or a Mover could deal with those concrete blocks.
I inched my way along the edges of the cell, examining the walls with my fingertips. I wasn’t sure what I was looking for. An imperfection perhaps. Any sign of weakness in my cage. After what must have been hours of searching—I couldn’t be sure of the time without my comm—I found none. I lay down on the cot and stared at the ceiling.
I wondered what my friends were doing right now. Assuming Loken wasn’t captive somewhere else, he would have told everyone I’d been arrested. Mom, Sona, and Talin would be worried. Mom would be driving Talin crazy, insisting they come here and demand my freedom. Rey and Krin were likely working on a breakout plan. I hoped it wouldn’t get any of us killed ahead of schedule.
I wondered whether Loken had returned to his duties like a good little soldier, or if he had been serious about our being together. What would he do when his duty came into direct conflict with something else he wanted?
I even thought of Hael, though I’d met him only once. He’d left quite an impression. An image played in my head of Hael calling my comm unit into his hand. How had he done that? It seemed more like something a Breather would have done, by directing the wind to lift the device into his hand. Maybe if he were here, he could just move that metal door out of the way.
I glared at the door that separated me from the world I should be trying to save right now. I stood and approached it. I ran my palms along the door, sticking my fingertips into the crevices around its edges.
Ether floated around it, tiny blue flecks hovering in the air. Glaring at the blue light, I willed the ether to move the door for me.
Move.
Nothing.
Move, please?
Still nothing.
The cool air of the cell raised goosebumps on my arms. I lay back down on the cot and snuggled as deeply as I could into the cushion. Then I went back to staring at the ceiling.