Gradually she realized that the white was an overcast sky, and the black was a mountain. A big mountain, close enough to smack her face against. It reared up haughtily against the sky, its lowerreaches covered with trees that seemed ebony instead of green and swimming with mist. Its top wascompletely wreathed in clouds; there was no way to judge how high it was.
And beside it was another mountain just like it.Maggie shifted, trying to get a wider view. Therewere mountains everywhere, in an impenetrablering surrounding her.
They were... scary.
Maggie knew mountains, and loved them, butthese were different from any she'd ever seen. So cold, and with that haunted mist creeping everywhere. The place seemed to be full of ghosts, materializing and then disappearing with an almostaudible wail.
It was like another world.
Maggie sat down hard, then slowly turned backto look at the redheaded girl.
"Where is this?" she said, and her voice was almost a whisper.
To her surprise, the girl didn't laugh maliciouslyagain. Instead she looked away, with eyes thatseemed to focus on some distant and terrible memory, and she spoke in almost a whisper herself. "It's the most secret place in the Night World."
Maggie felt as if the mist outside had reached down the back of her pajama top.
"The what?"
"The Night World. It's like an organization. For all of them, youknow." When Maggie just looked at her, she went on, "Them. The ones that aren't human."
This time what Maggie felt was a plunging in her stomach, and she honestly didn't know if it was because she was locked up in here with a loony, or if some part of her already accepted what the loony was saying. Either way, she was scared sick, and she couldn't say anything.
The girl with red hair flicked a glance at her, and the malicious pleasure came back. "The vampires," she said distinctly, "and the shapeshifters and the witches - "
Oh, God, Maggie thought. Sylvia.Sylvia is a witch.
She didn't know how she knew and probably part of her didn't believe it anyway, but the word was thundering around inside her like an avalanche, gathering evidence as it fell. The incense, those strange purple eyes, the way Miles fell for her so fast and hardly ever called the family after he met her, and changed his whole personality, just as if he'd been under a spell, bewitched and helpless, and, oh, Miles, why didn't I guess....
I'm not smart, but I've always been a good judge of character. How could I screw up when it counted?
"They don't normally have places of their own,"
the redheaded girl was going on; and the wordswere somehow finding their way to Maggie's earsdespite the chaos going on inside her. "Mostly theyjust live in ourcities, pretending to be like us. Butthis valley is special; it's been here in the Cascades for centuries and humans have never found it. It's all surrounded by spells and fogand those moun tains. There's a pass through them, big enough forcarts, but only the Night People can see it. It'scalled the Dark Kingdom."
Oh, terrific,Maggie thought numbly. The namewas strangely suited to what she'd seen outside. Yellow sunlight was almost impossible to imagine in this place. Those filmy wraiths of mist held it ina shimmering silvery-white spell.
"And you're trying to say that we're all ...slaves now? But how did you guys get here?"
When the redhead didn't answer, she looked atthe little blond girl.
The girl shifted her slight body, gulped. Finallyshe spoke in a husky little voice.
"I'm P.J. Penobscot. I was-it happened to meon Halloween. I was trick-or-treating." She looked down at herself and Maggie realized she was wearing a tan cable-knit sweater and a vest. "I was agolfer. And I was only supposed to go on my ownblock because the weather was getting bad. But myfriend Aaron and I went across the street and thiscar stopped in front ofme...."She trailed off andswallowed hard.
Maggie reached over and squeezed her hand. "I bet you were a great golfer."
P.J. smiled wanly. "Thanks." Then her small face hardened and her eyes became distant. "Aaron got away, but this man grabbed me. I tried to hit him with my golf club, but he took it away. He lookedat me and then he put me in the car. He wasstrong."
"He was a professional slave trader," the redhaired girl said. "Both the guys I've seen are pros.That's why they looked at her face-they takepretty slaves when they can get them."
Maggie stared at her, then turned to P.J. "Andthen what?"
"They put something over my face-I was stillfighting and yelling and everything-and then Iwent to sleep for a while. I woke up in this warehouse place." She breathed once and looked at herthin wrists. "I was chained to a bed and I was allalone. I was alone for a while. And then, maybe itwas the next day, they brought in her."She noddedat the girl sleeping in the corner.
Maggie looked at the still form. It didn't moveexcept when the cart shook it. "Is she all right?"
"She's sick. They left her there for a long time, maybe four days, but she never really woke up. Ithink she's getting worse." P.J.'s voice was quiet and detached. "They came in to give us food, but that was all. And then yesterday they brought you in.
Maggie blinked. "To the warehouse."
P.J. nodded solemnly. "You were asleep, too. But I don't know what happened after that. They putthe cloth over my face again. When I woke up Iwas in a van."
"They use those for transport on the other side,"the redhaired girl said. "To get up to the pass.
Then they switch to a cart. The people in this valleyhave never seen a car."
"So you mean I slept through all that?" Maggieasked P.J.
P.J. nodded again, and the redhead said, "Theyprobably gave you more of the drug. They try to keep everybody too doped up to fight."
Maggie was chewing her lip. Something had occurred to her. Maybe Sylvia hadn't gone climbingwith Miles at all. "So, PJ., you never saw any other slaves besides that girl? You didn't see a boy?" She fished in her jacket pocket and pulled out the photoof Miles. "A boy who looked like this?"
P.J. looked at the photograph gravely, then shookher head. "I never saw him before. He looks likeyou.
"He's my brother, Miles. He disappeared on Halloween, too. I thought maybe... ."Maggie shookher head, then held the photograph toward the redhaired girl.
"Never seen him before," the girl said shortly.