Lair of Dreams (The Diviners 2)

“You’re in a very funny mood,” Evie said.

“I’m a funny guy,” Sam grumbled and kept his flashlight trained on the path ahead. “Just keep walking.”

Memphis lifted his eyes, taking in the grimy grandeur of the underground. “It’s sort of beautiful, though, isn’t it? Like a city below the city.”

“If you say so, Poet. How much farther?” Theta asked, keeping her eyes on the edge of the ties; she didn’t want her shoes getting caught between them.

Memphis bounced his flashlight beam across the concrete archways. “If Ling’s right about the location of Beach’s station, maybe a hundred feet?”

A rat scuttled quickly along the tracks, making Theta gasp. Memphis put his arm around her. “It’s more scared of us than we are of it.”

“It must be pretty scared, then,” Theta said.

The passageway took on water as they walked. It smelled of sulfur and rot. They covered their noses, breathing through their mouths.

“Sam,” Evie said a moment later, “I don’t know what’s happening.”

“How drunk are you?”

“No. I mean… I mean ’bout any of this. About the dead and John Hobbes. Will. Rotke. Those cards we found. Project Buffalo,” she said, the last word tripping off her booze-thickened tongue. “I need to tell you something, Sam. It’s about tonight and what happened at the show.”

Sam gestured to the dark underground, his flashlight beam bouncing off the metal and earth. “You want to have this conversation now? Here?”

“Shhh, listen. This fella brought a comb for me to read. Sam, it was James’s comb,” Evie said, keeping one hand on his back to steady herself.

“What are you talking about?”

“The comb. He said it belonged to his pal, but he was lying. That comb belonged to my brother. When I was under? I saw James.”

Sam kept the flashlight trained on the path ahead as he took in what Evie was saying. “Did you know this fella?”

“Not from Adam. I swear.”

“So how’d this Abe Stranger get your brother’s comb?”

“He told me these men paid him to bring it to me. Men in dark suits.”

“You think they’re the same guys who busted in while we were in the post office?”

“I don’t know, Sam. I don’t know anything anymore.” Evie swallowed. “Like you and me, for instance.”

“There is no you and me. You made that pretty clear tonight,” Sam muttered. “Listen, you asked me to play a part, and I did. From now on, I travel solo.”

“Now who’s lying? You forget. I read your personal effects. I know you.”

“You know bupkes.”

But the gin had loosened the last of Evie’s restraint. “I’ve seen you. The true you. I’ve held your secrets in my hands. You’re scared, Sam. You pretend you’re not, but you are. Just like the rest of us.”

Sam whirled around. “All you know about are parties, good times, and telling people what they wanna hear on the radio. And breaking hearts.”

Sam pushed on, shining his flashlight ahead of them in the darkness. He hated that Evie had unsettled him like this. That was the trouble with letting people in—once you’d taken off the armor, it was hard to put it back on.

Evie stumbled after him. “Right! I forgot. I’m just a girl on the radio. Well, I only read what people choose to give me, Sam. You steal whatever you like and never think about what it costs anyone,” Evie said, eyes brimming with tears.

“Don’t cry,” Sam said. He was all balled up inside. “Please don’t cry. I got no defenses against girl tears.”

“You can’t have my tears, Sam Lloyd. I revoke them,” Evie said through chattering teeth. “But don’t go tellin’ me what I know. ’Cause you don’t know.”