“I know how he feels,” I muttered. Too bad I couldn’t take Hopper out drinking with me. He could have become Bar Hopper.
Eddie stared at Hopper with contempt, but I suspected it was for himself, not the dragon. “I’m so stupid,” he muttered. It was a refrain I’d heard from him a lot. “I never should have believed it. I shouted that ‘spell’ over and over in that field, and all I did was give them more time to get away with her.”
“She was just protecting you,” said Jill.
“It was my job to protect her,” he growled.
Jackie finished off her juice and turned to a package of cookies. “What spell did she tell you to recite?”
Eddie’s brow furrowed. “Cent . . . centrum permanebit. Is it even a real spell?”
“Not that I know of.” Jackie gave him a sympathetic look he didn’t even really notice. “But if it makes you feel better, it is Latin. A lot of spells use that language.”
“What’s it mean?” asked Jill. I was still leaning into her, but my mind was wandering to an analysis of nearby bars. Downtown’s were nicer, but I might run into people I knew if I went to Carlton. Did I want to be alone or not?
“Well, centrum means center,” said Jackie. “Permanebit is a future tense verb. ‘Remains’ is one translation. Or maybe ‘endures.’ Together it’d be something like, ‘the center will endure.’”
I jerked my head up. “Hold,” I whispered, my voice cracking. “The center will hold.”
Sydney’s last words. Not for Eddie, but for me.
The last of my self-control shattered, and I abruptly stood. Jill reached for me. “Adrian . . .”
“I’ll see you guys later.” I moved toward the door, pausing to scoop up Hopper and put him in my jacket.
The center will hold.
Will it, Sydney? I wondered. Because I’m falling apart.
“Where are you going?” asked Eddie.
“Out,” I said. “Escape plan number eighty-two: Go some-where where I don’t have to feel anything for a while.”
He exchanged a worried look with Jill and asked, “When are you coming back?”
Centrum permanebit.
I shook my head and turned away. “It doesn’t matter.”
CHAPTER 24
SYDNEY
IT WAS THE COLD THAT FINALLY WOKE ME UP. I’d been going in and out of a dark, dreamless haze for an indefinable amount of time, and I had no idea how long it had been since I was in the van with my family. Judging from my dry mouth and groggy mind, there was still some drug kicking around in my body, but they must have lifted it enough to let me finally grasp at consciousness.
The floor I was lying on was a rough, uneven concrete that held no warmth and was made even more uncomfortable because it was damp. It added to the chill seeping into my bones, and I slowly and awkwardly managed a sitting position, so that I could wrap my arms around myself in a weak attempt to hold in body heat. The damp cell couldn’t be any more than fifty degrees, and the fact that I was naked wasn’t helping matters.
The room was also black. Pitch-black. I’d been in darkness before, but this was impenetrable. There was nothing, not even a whisper of light, that my eyes could adjust to. That blackness was nearly tangible, heavy and smothering. I had to rely on my other senses to get any idea of my setting, and from the ominous silence, my hearing wasn’t going to do me any favors.
My teeth began to chatter, and I drew my knees up to my body, wincing as the harsh floor scraped my skin. I huddled into a ball as best I could, scarcely able to believe I’d just been in a desert. How long ago had that been? I had no clue, nor did I know where I was now. The drug they’d given me had stopped the passage of time. It could’ve been days or minutes since my abduction.
“Hello, Sydney.”
The voice came without warning, seemingly from every part of the cell, echoing off the walls. It was female, but there was a synthesized quality to it, like she was speaking through a filter. I said nothing but lifted my head up and stared straight ahead unflinchingly. If this room was equipped with a fancy sound system, then they probably had some sort of night vision cameras that let them view me. The Alchemists might try to cut off my senses, but they would certainly make sure they had every advantage for themselves.
“Do you know where you are?” the voice asked.
I had to swallow a few times before my tongue would form words again. “Being held by a bunch of sick voyeurs who get their kicks out of locking up a naked girl?”
“You’re the one who’s sick, Sydney.” The voice had no emotion whatsoever. “The darkness that surrounds you is nothing compared to the darkness that’s defiled your soul. We’re here to help you expel it.”
“I don’t suppose you could help me to clothes and a blanket?”
“You’re being reborn into the world, cold and naked, given a new chance to save yourself.”
I rested my head on my knees again and didn’t reply. They could dress it up with as many metaphors as they wanted, but I was perfectly aware that this sort of deprivation was a psychological technique to try to crack me. The voice’s next words confirmed as much.
“The more cooperative you are in your salvation, the more comfortable we’ll make your stay.”
As though on cue, my stomach rumbled, again making me wonder how much time had passed. “Keep your comfort. I don’t need to be saved.”
“Everything you came in with has been destroyed, with one exception. It’s a sign of our goodwill. We aren’t doing this to be cruel. We want to help you.”
I stayed silent.
“The item is in your cell if you want it,” the voice added.
It was already starting: the Alchemist’s mind games. I hadn’t known what to expect from re-education. The reason it was kept so shrouded in mystery was undoubtedly to inspire fear. Mental and physical torture seemed like obvious conclusions, though. If you wanted to remold people, you had to break them down first.
The voice didn’t say anything else, and I vowed not to play into this ploy. And yet, the longer I sat there, the more curious I became. What item were they trying to tempt me with? If there really was one. I knew I shouldn’t indulge them. I knew defiance was the best course. But that curiosity continued to gnaw at me, and I really didn’t know what else was in this room. Exploration wouldn’t hurt.
I stood up, surprised to find how weak my legs were. I felt a little light-headed, but in the darkness, I at least had no sense of the room spinning. Cautiously, I moved forward, hands outstretched. It didn’t take me long to hit a wall. The surface was as cold as everything else in here, but the texture was smoother, with lines etched into it as though they were bricks or tiles. Compartments for the speakers and cameras?
My survey was brief. The cell appeared to be about twelve by eight feet. There was no obvious door. A small toilet and sink sat openly in a corner, no doubt meant to increase the humiliation of this experiment. Groping around, I managed to turn on the faucet. The water that came out was one step away from ice, but it didn’t smell or taste strange, and I cupped some in my hands to drink, suddenly feeling parched. Near the sink, embedded in the wall, was a small hand-soap dispenser that smelled antiseptic. I nearly smiled. Even amid prisons and torture, the Alchemists had to maintain their hygienic standards.
When I found nothing else, I returned to my original spot on the floor. “Well played,” I said. “I guess you got me.”
Nothing. After several seconds, I had the idea to start feeling around on the floor. I knew they were watching and I had to push my self-consciousness away as I crawled around, running my hands over every rough inch. In the end, though, the only thing it yielded me was painful knees.