I had never seen Sanchez break down like this before. The whole time I had known her, she’d been a stoic, unflinching authority figure, always well composed, and always doing her duty. But now, this was different. Desperation had clawed its way out of her and taken hold for a moment, just long enough for me to see the frightened human underneath it all.
Everybody around me was starting to crack; how long did I have left?
“I’m going to do whatever I can,” I said. “I promise.”
Sanchez immediately regained her composure, tugged on her uniform, and pressed the button to unlock the cellblock door. A moment later, I was back in my cell, under those harsh, fluorescent lights. Sanchez didn’t say another word before she left, though that was probably to make sure she didn’t lose face in front of the other inmates.
I could understand that.
It was the moment my cell door closed that I realized Alexa wasn’t standing around waiting for me. She was in her bunk, asleep. My heart surged into my throat, my pulse immediately thundering against my chest. I dashed toward her, throwing myself to my knees beside her bed and scrambling to shake her awake, but Azlu called out from the ceiling.
“Don’t,” she said, her voice a sharp whisper.
I turned my eyes up at her. “She’s asleep!” I hissed.
“I know, I told her to sleep.”
“What? Why would you do that?”
Azlu skittered across the ceiling, then dropped onto my bed. Her body was so slight, her movements so precise, the bunk didn’t even shake when she landed on it. She stared at me with her big, wide eyes.
“Because it’s safe,” she said.
“Safe?”
“The devil won’t come tonight. You will both be able to sleep.”
I looked down at Alexa. Her eyes were shut, her mouth was open, and she was already drooling on her pillow a little. She didn’t look like she was in any kind of distress, or under attack. Then again, that was probably because she wasn’t under attack. Not yet, anyway.
“You can’t know that for sure…” I said.
“I don’t. Mother does. She senses something is different tonight. The devil isn’t as… noisy… as it usually is.”
“Noisy?”
“I cannot explain it. I can only tell you what mother tells me. But I trust mother, and you should too. Tonight, you sleep. You need your strength, and I cannot support you forever.”
I blinked hard, and my eyes almost didn’t want to open again. I was tired. Very tired. The thought of taking another hit of Azlu’s adrenaline mucus, or whatever the hell it was, didn’t have nearly as much appeal as the thought of slipping into my bunk and sleeping. I doubted even the bright light of the cell would keep me from going under.
Not the way I was feeling.
“I suppose you’re right…” I said. I had no reason to doubt the little spiderling. We’d come a long way, she and I. If she’d wanted to kill me, it would’ve happened already. She didn’t want to kill me, so that brought me some kind of comfort.
“Did you speak with him?” Azlu asked, after a pause.
I sighed. “Yeah. I wish I could tell you I’d figured out what was going on and how to fix it, but I don’t think talking to him was a great help.”
“No?”
“He wasn’t himself. He looked… in bad shape. I don’t know how to describe it. The last time I saw him, he was… him. You know?”
“I remember. I was there.”
Hot blood flushed through my chest, warming my body from the inside out. I remembered that last night I’d spent with the Horseman, what we’d done, how often we’d done it, and how incredibly good it had been. I’d spent the night in his bed, or at least I would’ve if Azlu hadn’t told me the Order had been looking for me for six months and thought I was dead.
“Oh,” I said, looking away. “Right.”
“There is no need for embarrassment. I looked away when I had to.”
The lack of a grin on her face assured me she was telling the truth. “Anyway… something’s definitely going on with him, but he won’t tell me what it is. I know it has something to do with the devil. I think… it felt like whatever is happening in the prison is taking some kind of physical toll on him. I could see it on his face, in his attitude. He’s not himself.”
“And that should make all of us worry. He is the Horseman. If he becomes unstable, we are all in trouble.”
“Unstable?”
She shook her head. “Forget I said anything. I have news for you… about your friends.”
“Ezree made contact?”
“He did. He is near, and he is able to speak to me.”
My eyes drifted to Alexa again, only for a moment. After confirming she was still asleep, I stood upright and moved a little closer to Azlu, as if she was about to tell me a secret. “What did he say?”
“Well…” she paused, “He told me your friend is coming to the prison tomorrow.”
“My friend? What friend?”
“Seline. She is going to speak with the Warden about you.”
My chest tightened again, this time from a sudden blast of anxiety instead of excitement or embarrassment. “Seline… is coming here tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
“And she’s gonna speak with the Warden?”
“Correct.”
“About me?”
“This is what I have been told.”
“That’s… a terrible idea.” I turned around and headed for the opposite wall. “I mean, that’s an awful idea. What is she thinking?”
“She is thinking you should not be here, and she is going to try and get you out.”
I spun around and stared at Azlu. “No, you don’t understand. She can’t just come in here and talk to the Warden about me. It’s going to ruin everything.”
“Ruin? Seline has authority. Perhaps she can arrange for your release.”
“The Horseman already offered to release me. I said no.”
Azlu frowned. “I know.”
“You know?”
“We are linked, remember? I do look away, but when your emotions run high it is sometimes difficult to ignore the sound of your thoughts in my head.”
“Yeah, we’re gonna have to try and find a way to fix that…”
“As with Ezree, the only way to fix it is by remaining apart from each other for some time. The link will fade.”
“Yeah… well, in that case you know why I stayed.”
“I do.”
“So, you know why Seline can’t talk to the Warden. Best case scenario, she gets me out of here and I have no choice but to leave. Worst case scenario… she puts me on his map.”
“Puts you on his map?”
“Makes me a target. I’ve been able to slip under his notice, mostly at least.” I remembered that ominous little talk we’d had the day Calder went missing, but since then, there’d been nothing from him. Not a peep. Maybe he’d forgotten about me? “This can’t happen…” I said.
Azlu shut her eyes, tilted her head back, and made it sway left and right. A moment later, she paused and brought her gaze to me again. “I’m afraid you don’t have much of a choice,” she said in a voice that seemed, maybe, a little firmer, a little more authoritative. “This is something you cannot control, and for that reason, you should get some sleep. You will need every ounce of energy you can get in the days and nights ahead.”