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dumbfounded.

Lintz smiled. “Fortunately, you left us something of a breadcrumb trail—hallways with the torches blown out, smashed stone, blood spots on the floor. When we came down to the lower levels and saw the door of the empty cell standing open, we thought you were in there, but that’s when we found the hidden stairwell. We were hoping we’d find you all in one piece.”

“Any luck finding Caius?” Alex asked hopefully.

They shook their heads. “Afraid not. Looks like he’s hiding again,” said Demeter.

“I’m not sure what would keep the warden away, though,” mused Lintz.

Alex had a feeling he might know of something important enough to keep Caius away, even with so much going on.

Did the bird flap? he wondered. He felt as if it might have, and it was a horrifying notion.

“I’ll be back in a minute,” he said, darting out the door and up the remainder of the hallway to the pit room at the end.

Turning the handle, he found that the door was locked. No amount of pushing or shoving could get it to budge. He knocked insistently, the sound echoing behind him, but nobody came to answer it. He tried again, in case Caius hadn’t heard. Still, nobody came to the door. If Caius was in there, he wasn’t receiving visitors. Pressing his ear to the thick wood, Alex listened for any sound that might give him a clue as to what was going on in the room beyond, but all he could hear was the drip of water falling from the ceiling.

If Caius was dealing with feeding time, Alex knew recruiting the warden would have to wait. He imagined the feeding of the Great Evil to be a time-consuming, energy-draining act that Caius could not simply walk away from in order to help them, and time was something they were out of; they could not risk waiting for him to finish, if that was what he was up to. Alypia was still at large, and now that he had everyone together, it was time for her takedown.

Chapter 27

“Where do you think she might be?” Aamir asked.

Alex shrugged. “I don’t know. We just have to keep looking.”

They had been searching the prison for what seemed like hours, seeking out the elusive Alypia. Vincent and Demeter had gone to deal with the entourage that had come through with her, and Demeter had returned a short while ago to say Vincent was staying in the courtyard to stand guard beside the portal from Stillwater, to make sure she couldn’t get back through, though Alex had a sinking feeling she might have already managed it.

“Looking for someone?” a voice called from the end of the hallway ahead of them. The voice was too low to belong to the person Alex wanted it to be, but he was pleased to see the familiar face of the warden, regardless.

Alex nodded. “Alypia is on the loose.”

“Ah, I see,” Caius murmured. “Most unfortunate… My apologies for not being around when the fog was released. I would have come to check on things sooner, but I was seeing to some duties in the core of the keep. It’s hard to hear anything down there, and I was in the middle of something I simply couldn’t step away from,” he explained, flashing a conspiratorial look at Alex that confirmed his fears about the flapping bird and what Caius had been doing behind the locked door. “Now that I am here, I shall help you in your search. As we go, you can keep me abreast of your plans.”

Jari sniggered, receiving a stern, disappointed glance from the old man. It quickly took the smile off Jari’s face, his gaze trailing toward his feet with mild embarrassment.

“Do you know where she might be hiding?” Alex asked.

Caius frowned thoughtfully. “I have a few ideas.”

“And you think she might still be here?”

Caius nodded. “If you’re still here, then undoubtedly.”

With Caius taking the lead, the group followed him dutifully, keeping their eyes peeled for any sign of their quarry. Alex couldn’t get used to the fact that, everywhere Caius went, the inmates fell suddenly silent. There was an air to him that frightened them, and Alex couldn’t blame them; they did not have the advantage of inside knowledge.

After half an hour of walking, Alex noticed that Caius was beginning to tire. It began with a slowing of pace, and then there was a slight jerk in his gait, and finally it flowed into an even more noticeable limp as he leaned heavily onto his cane. Now and again, he would pause to catch his breath, resting against the wall of the prison, though always out of sight of the cells. It made sense that the warden didn’t want to show weakness in front of his prisoners. Still, Caius never complained as they moved from hallway to hallway, checking empty cells.

Gradually, Caius began to fall behind.

“You should seek out the eastern quarter—it’s where she is mostly likely to go,” he said breathlessly.

The group halted.

“Are you okay?” Alex asked, resting a hand on the old man’s back.

“Fine, fine, just a little out of breath,” Caius admitted. “I’ll be better in a second. You go on ahead.”

“We can stay with you,” Alex insisted.

Caius smiled weakly. “Honestly, you go on ahead. I wouldn’t want you missing her on my account.”

There was no way Alex was going to leave the old man alone in the halls of the prison, even though he knew it was Caius’s domain.

Alex turned to the others. “I’ll stay with him and catch you up when he’s feeling better,” he said firmly. “If you find Alypia while I’m still here, shove her into the nearest cell and turn the key, okay?”

“Will do.” Demeter grinned, jangling his keys in a self-important fashion as he beckoned for the others to follow.

For a moment, Ellabell hung back as if she might stay too, but thought better of it at the last minute and raced off after the others. When it was just the

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