“Witch!” a guard screamed, pointing past Rowan and zeroing in on Lily.
Get down!
Hails of arrows were loosed. Rowan snatched dozens out of the air as Lily hit the floor.
Roll to your left!
Lily did as Rowan instructed, rolling down one of the side corridors off the stairway. More arrows streaked past the opening of Lily’s passageway.
I need more strength, Lily.
Lily scrambled back up onto her feet and grabbed the nearest torch off of its sconce on the wall. She took in the torch’s heat, and a witch wind whistled toward her from all directions. Lily changed the gathered heat into force and fed it to Rowan. The sounds of the fight in the corridor picked up again.
Go get the scientist, Rowan. We’re almost out of time.
I’ll lose contact with you if I go for Chenoa. She’s all the way down a corridor at a right angle from yours. It’ll put fat
homs of granite between us.
It’s okay if we’re out of contact for a bit. You draw off the guards, and I’ll start up the steps while you get her. I’ll meet you aboveground.
I don’t like it.
I’ll be fine. Just do it, okay?
Okay. Go quickly.
“Lily?” Juliet said, her voice ragged.
Lily’s head snapped around, and she saw that she was standing in front of a dark cell. Juliet was in there.
“What are you doing down here?” Lily said disbelievingly. She put the torch back in its sconce and grabbed on to the bars of Juliet’s cell. Her sister came to her and hugged her through the bars.
“I told you I got into a little trouble with Lillian,” Juliet replied.
“How could she do this to you?” Lily said, her teeth grinding together. She called out to Rowan in mindspeak, but she got no reply.
“I told Lillian if she wanted to hang them, she’d have to hang me first. The scientists, I mean,” Juliet admitted sheepishly. “I couldn’t stand back and let one more person die. And apparently killing them means more to her than I do.”
The sisters broke apart and Lily looked at Juliet. “I need a vessel. I can’t rip this door off, but if you let me claim you, I can give you strength and you’ll be able to.”
Juliet shook her head, her eyes filling with tears. “Lillian claimed me when we were kids.”
Lily knew that two witches couldn’t claim the same person. Juliet was stuck with Lillian unless she smashed her willstone and got a new one. Lily looked down the long corridor. There were more cells. Lily saw faces pressed against the bars, and even a few mirrors sticking out, as the inmates tried to see what was happening down the passageway.
“Who wants their freedom?” Lily screamed.
“Me! I’m not a scientist, I’m a tanner. I was only looking for a better dye for my skins,” one woman said loudly. She came forward and clutched the bars of her cell. She was an Outlander. Her face was covered in bruises, and her thick wrists were rubbed raw as if she’d been kept in iron shackles.
“I was accused because my neighbor wanted the reward money! I’ve never even dabbled in the scientific arts!” yelled the man across from her. He was waving his arms through the bars. His nails were long and grubby, and his sleeves threadbare rags. “Help me, witch! Help me, please.”
More voices joined theirs—all of them protesting their innocence. A great clamor erupted down the passageway. Arms waved and people banged on their cell doors.
“Everybody settle down,” Lily yelled, holding up her arms for silence. The noise stopped. Lily could still hear the clash of swords far off down one of the passageways and desperately hoped that Rowan was okay.
“Who here has been claimed by a witch?” Lily asked as she walked down the passageway and looked into each cell.
“None of us,” the tanner replied. “If we had, we could’ve proved our innocence in mindspeak. But witches don’t care who’s innocent or who’s guilty. They just want more names.”