Link headed for the door across the room from the one they’d come in through. He couldn’t get away from creepy cocoons or Angelique and her Sarafine blood—or whatever it was—fast enough. The only person who seemed to want out even more was John, who was right on Link’s heels, dragging Liv along with him.
The moment they entered the hallway, Angelique strode past them. “This place is bigger than it looks. Silas has private lab rooms, and the cells are in the dungeon.”
“There’s a dungeon?” Necro cringed.
“That’s what we called it,” Angelique said before turning back to Link. “If your girlfriend’s here, he’s probably keeping her there. But I only know the way to the cells and the lab room where he gave me my infusions.”
Infusions. Cells. Link had trouble thinking about anything else as they followed Angelique through the gleaming white hallway and down a stone staircase that led underneath the building and into stone tunnels.
“Now I understand why they call it the dungeon,” Necro whispered.
“Shh,” John said. “I heard something.”
Sam nodded. “Me, too. It sounds like a girl’s voice.”
It was all Link needed to hear. He bolted through the tunnel, his Chucks slapping against the stone floor.
I’m coming, Rid.
Within seconds, he saw the iron bars and rows of cells.
But when he reached the first cell and looked through the bars, his heart sank.
A pretty brunette scrambled away from the cell door and cowered in the corner.
“Hey, I’m not gonna hurt you.” He tried to smile, but he couldn’t. “I’m not one of Silas’ guys. I’m here lookin’ for my girlfriend. Her name’s Ridley. Maybe you’ve seen her?”
Necro caught up with him just as a girl in another cell stepped forward.
“We know her,” the girl said with a Russian accent. “The new one.”
Link darted toward the bars. “Right. That one. Where is she? Is she okay?” He rushed through the tunnel, searching every cell. They were full of girls, but Ridley wasn’t one of them.
“I see you found the Menagerie,” Angelique said as she caught up with them. Liv, John, Floyd, and Sam were farther behind her, whispering to the terrified imprisoned girls. “Looks like Silas moved everyone.”
“Angelique? Is that you?” Another girl approached the bars, craning her neck for a better view.
The Cataclyst walked over to the girl’s cage. “Drew. It’s nice to see you’re still alive.”
Relief spread across Drew’s features. “I can’t believe you came back for us.”
The other girls were coming to the doors of their own cells now.
Angelique brought her fingers to her lips like she was trying not to laugh. “I didn’t come back for you, Drew—or any of the rest of you,” she said, looking around. “I came back for me. But it was fun catching up.”
Necro stormed over to Angelique, who was reminding Link of Sarafine more and more by the minute. “We can’t leave them here like animals.”
“Rescuing people wasn’t part of the deal, Necromancer.” Angelique continued down the tunnel. “I don’t need to add hero to my résumé. Again, those are the shiny balls. Not my thing.”
Necro looked over at Link. “I’m not leaving without them.”
Floyd shouldered her way past Link and stood next to her friend. “Me neither.”
“We’ll get you out somehow,” Link said, staring at the Russian girl behind the bars. “I hate to ask you this, but do you know where Silas is keepin’ Ridley? I’ve gotta find her.”
The girl shook her head. “Our cells were all together for a while. Then Silas moved us.”
“But they did it at night when it was pitch-black so we couldn’t see where they were taking us,” the other girl, Drew, added. “I guess Silas doesn’t want anyone else escaping.”
Link glanced down the tunnel as Angelique moved farther away. He didn’t want to leave these girls, but he needed to find Rid. And the Cataclyst knew her way around, at least a little.
“Go.” Floyd gave him a shove. “Find Ridley. Necro and I will take care of this.”
“I can stay and Rip them out one at a time,” John offered.
Necro shook her head. “Link might need you. You and Liv go with him. Sam will help us. We’ve got this.”
Liv shook her head. “But how—?”
“I’ve picked a few locks before,” Floyd said sheepishly. “I know my way around a prison.”
Sam grinned. “And I’ve ripped a few doors off their hinges.”
“Floyd and I are Dark Casters, after all,” Necro added. “So you probably shouldn’t ask for the details. Now go.” She gave Link a hard shove.
In that moment, Link loved her. Necro was a true friend, maybe the truest he’d ever had, besides Ethan. He didn’t know how to tell her that, but he hoped she knew.
“Thanks,” he said. It wasn’t enough, but he didn’t know what else to say. Instead, he took off after Angelique.
As Link ducked through a doorway after her, he realized there were worse things than unconscious Casters hanging from the ceiling from magical marionette strings and a Menagerie of girls locked in cages.
At least, there was one thing worse.
Silas Ravenwood.
“Crap.” It slipped out right before Link started holding his breath. He didn’t want to end up in some kind of hybrid Incubus cocoon.