The abandoned estate was a few miles outside of Middle River, its perimeter marked by a barbed-wire fence nailed into a row of scarred trees. A gate secured by a rusty chain blocked the dirt road leading up to the house. Whoever lived here definitely hadn’t wanted any visitors.
Lukas opened the storage space in the floor of the van, and Priest grabbed a nylon rope and a pair of bolt cutters. Considering that Priest traveled with his own blowtorch, bolt cutters weren’t a big surprise.
Alara was the one who used them to cut the chain. She tossed the broken links in the dirt, then leaned in and whispered something to Jared. His eyes darted in my direction.
“It’s safer for everyone,” Alara said, a little louder than necessary.
“What’s safer for everyone?” They were obviously talking about me.
Alara crossed her arms. “I think you should wait here.”
I thought about Lilburn, and the way I froze instead of running when Lukas told me to get out of the house. “I know I made some mistakes—”
“Mistakes?” Alara snapped. “You almost got us all killed last night.”
My throat went dry. She knew.
Lukas turned to Alara. “What are you talking about?”
She looked right at me. “Who do you think broke the salt line?”
I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me. Anything was better than the way Alara was looking at me. I thought about Markus’ journal entry, and the way one misplaced line had been the difference between controlling a demon and unleashing one. My ignorance could’ve cost them their lives. Despite the millions of pointless images and textbook pages my memory had recorded over the years, it hadn’t helped me remember the one piece of information I’d actually needed.
“She didn’t know,” Jared said before I had a chance to say anything. “It was an accident.”
Jared cut me off. “I told her not to say anything. There was no point.”
Why was he defending me?
Lukas leaned against the van, watching his brother. “You still should’ve told us. Secrets are dangerous.” The way he said it sounded like a threat.
Jared stayed silent.
“I—I’m so sorry,” I stammered.
Priest stepped between them. “We’ve been training for years, and Kennedy only found out about all this a few days ago. There’s a learning curve.”
“Look at her.” Alara said it like an accusation. “She belongs at a football game with a plastic cup in her hand.”
Lukas walked over and squeezed her shoulder gently. “It was an accident.”
Alara shrugged him off, and they stared at each other until they seemed to arrive at a silent agreement. But she still didn’t say a word as we walked toward the gate that stood between us and the hill leading up to the estate or when we stepped over the broken chain snaking through the dirt like another line I shouldn’t cross.
I watched the four of them climb the hill ahead of me. How many mistakes would they forgive?
How many more would I make?
Lukas slowed his pace until I fell in step next to him. I kept my eyes trained on the ground.
“Don’t worry about Alara. You’ll be swapping weapons in a few days.”
A smile tugged at the corners of my lips.
He dipped his head trying to get me to look at him. “Is that a smile?”
I flashed him a real one.
The crumbling stone house came into view, an empty shell left to rot in the middle of nowhere. “Creepy, huh?” he said.
“And the house with the psychotic kid and her broken doll wasn’t?”
“True. But something about this place feels wrong,” he said.
Alara stood at the top of the rise. “That’s because people were murdered here.”
The stone well waited in the distance, looking more like an illustration from a fairy tale than the scene of two vicious killings.
“I’ll check it out,” Jared said, but Lukas was already walking past him.
“I’ve got it.”
Lukas crossed the dead grass, and I held my breath as he leaned over the edge of the well. He circled the well, waving an EMF detector around the chipped stones. “I’ve got nothing.”
We crowded around the opening. The stones spiraled into the black water below. I imagined falling in and trying to grab the slick rocks to climb back up. It would be impossible, especially if you were a little boy.
“Where would your grandmother hide the disk?” Jared asked.
I swallowed hard, anticipating her answer.
“Knowing her?” Alara stared into the well. “Down there.”
“Why would your families hide the pieces in such dangerous places if they knew you guys would have to find them eventually?” I asked.
“Not necessarily.” Priest dropped a rock in the well and waited for it to hit the bottom. “Maybe they planned to go back for the pieces themselves. Or they were going to prepare us, but never got the chance. I doubt they all expected to die on the same day.”
It made sense.
Alara unpacked her gear. “If they made it easy for us, it would be easy for Andras, too. He controls a lot of spirits.”
“Okay,” Jared said. “So who’s going in?”
“Are you insane?” Even if you ignored the fact that two people had died in there already, the well was a death trap. It looked like it got progressively wider toward the bottom, but the mouth was barely the width of my shoulders. And there was no telling what was lurking under the water. Bones, for one thing.
“You think Priest’s grandfather randomly wrote the name of this place in a doll with the disk inside?” Jared took off his jacket and tossed it on the grass.
Alara rolled her eyes. “You’ll never fit in there. It’s too narrow at the top.”
“I’ll go.” Priest tied the nylon rope around his waist.
Jared yanked it loose. “Forget it.”
“Why? Because I’m not as strong or fast as the rest of the superheroes?” Priest’s huge headphones were still hanging around his neck, which didn’t help his case.
“No one said that.” Lukas reached out to put his hand on Priest’s shoulder, but he jerked away.
“You don’t have to.” Priest’s expression hardened. “How many times have I stayed behind? And when I do come, I always go with Jared so he can babysit me.”
“That’s because you’re valuable,” Lukas said. “We can’t afford to lose you.”
“We’re all valuable. But you guys think I’m a kid who can’t take care of himself.” There was a hopelessness in Priest’s voice that I’d never heard before.
Alara pulled her hair into a ponytail. “I’ll do it.”
Lukas sighed. “You’re claustrophobic. You’ll have a panic attack and pass out before you make it halfway down.”
She leaned over the edge of the well again. “I don’t have a choice. I’m the only one besides Priest and Kennedy who can fit through the opening.”
My skin went cold. I didn’t want to climb in that hole—a reeking pit of dark water where two people had died.
Jared bent down to grab his jacket. “Screw it. Let’s get out of here. We’ll figure out something else.”
“You’re going to walk away without the disk instead of letting me try?” Priest’s shoulders sagged.
“I’ll go,” I offered halfheartedly.
Alara rolled her eyes. “Nice try. You look like you’re going to puke.”
Lukas studied me for a second like he was considering the possibility, and Priest lost it. “Are you seriously thinking about letting her go instead of me? She just learned how to use an EMF.”
“Fine.” Jared tossed Priest the rope. “But you’d better do exactly what I tell you.”
“I’ll do exactly what you tell me, and what you don’t.” Priest took off his green and black high-tops and peeled off his hoodie before Jared could change his mind.
Lukas tied the other end of the rope around his own waist, and Jared grabbed the section between his brother and the edge of the well.
Alara handed Priest a long cold-iron rod. “After this, you need to invent a gun that works underwater.”
“I’ll get right on it.” Priest swung his other leg over the side and slid down the moldy stones.
He was almost at the bottom when he looked up and smiled, just as a gnarled hand broke through the surface.