“People die in here,” she told him, and the angry, hard tone in her voice didn’t sound like Cassie at all. “People get beaten and tased and broken. Better get used to it—you don’t know how long you have left.”
Nate was heaving and gasping, but managed to straighten up and get back in line just as two guards came over.
“One more thing,” Cassie muttered as we joined the hundreds of other somber kids. “Don’t eat the food. I think it’s drugged. It’s another way for them to control us.”
Next to me, the Kid looked like he was about to pass out. I jabbed him in the ribs and he blinked.
“Wise up, Kid,” I said, not unkindly. “Let’s see how long you last.”
He nodded and looked straight ahead, as did I. We didn’t speak again, and when they locked us back in our room, Cassie and I sat down on the damp concrete and didn’t look at each other. In the darkness I let my tears come again, but kept perfectly silent as the sobs wracked me.
Merry. Merry, like Merry Christmas. Dead.
77
I’D SWORN TO REMEMBER ROBIN forever, and now Merry. How many names would I have to memorize before I either got out of here or got killed myself?
Our new room was so oppressive and horrible that being let into the cheerless “exercise yard” actually seemed like a treat. Bare dirt, chain-link fence topped with electrified razor wire—I was glad to see it.
Of course, it was hard avoiding the Cassie Fan Club when we were outside. As always, people were drawn to her and wanted to be near her. It used to irritate the living daylights out of me. Come to think of it, it still did.
“Jesus, we need two seconds of privacy here,” I muttered as another kid came up to us in the yard.
Cassie looked at me solemnly. “I’m sorry I’m popular.”
I made a face at her and turned away as she dealt with the latest suck-up.
“I’ll come play with you in a couple minutes,” I heard my sister promise, and rolled my eyes.
When she was free we went back to planning.
“I’ve seen the dragonflies in two different halls,” Cassie murmured.
“I saw them in the hall leading to the ring, and in the hall toward the infirmary,” I whispered, then immediately tried not to think about the infirmary. Every so often, when I least expected it, I suddenly flashed on the pain, the terror, the despair of that day. The day when I’d lost the baby I hadn’t wanted and had refused to acknowledge. It had scarred my soul, and that scar would be there till I died.
“But in the actual buildings, I haven’t seen any holes or broken windows,” Cassie went on. “Nowhere they could get in or out.”
“Nowhere who could get in?”
I jumped slightly—hadn’t heard Nathaniel come up behind me. As the Provost’s son and an Outsider, he had finely honed sneaking skills.
“Not who—what,” said Cassie. “Dragonflies. We’ve seen dragonflies in some of the hallways. And if they can get in—”
“Then we can get out,” Nate said, catching on immediately.
“We need to get organized about remembering where we’ve seen them,” I said. “And try to search as many halls as possible.”
“That won’t be easy,” Cassie said. “It’s not like we get a lot of unsupervised wandering time.”
“No,” Nate agreed. “Though this morning I got a tour of the classroom.” He grimaced and I looked at him with sympathy. We’d heard them come for him this morning. More than almost anything, it was being powerless to help others that was making me nuts.
“Once we find a crack in a window somewhere, then what?” I asked impatiently. “Did everyone remember to bring their magic spell so we can just fly out of here?”
“I brought mine,” Nate said seriously.
I gave him a look. “Nate, the last place someone would find a magic spell is Cell B-97-4275.”
“I know a way out,” said the Kid, but of course we all ignored him.