Existence

Chapter 28

"Sarah?"

Thomas was standing outside her cell. Curled up in a corner of the bed, Sarah was doing her best to ignore him. She hadn't moved from her spot since Adam left. The girl who had come down to get him had returned not long after with a tray of food. She'd slid it into the cell and left without another word. Sarah had refused to touch it, not even to bring it up to the table next to her.

"Aren't you hungry? They told me you didn't have dinner last night."

All she felt in her stomach was a cold, churning sensation— from both the things Adam had told her and the agonizing screams that had echoed down the corridor for ages before coming to an abrupt stop some time before Thomas had arrived. Had he been the one torturing whoever had been screaming? Did he come here because it was her turn to be tortured? Adam had said no one on his side would harm her, but he had lied to her before.

"At least drink some water, Sarah," Thomas pressed.

Sarah told herself to brush off the concern in his voice. Thomas had played a huge part in getting her to Adam's side. She should've suspected him the moment she'd found him going through Alex's stuff when he'd specifically told her he would be going to Talica. She had told him she'd trusted him, and he'd used it to his advantage. Maybe Jed had been right to keep her from Adventia. She had been too naïve, too trusting.

"Look, I'm going to take you to Jared."

That got her to look at him. The little smile of triumph on his face had her turning away again in irritation. Thomas let out a small, exasperated sigh. He proceeded to unlock her cell door and gestured for her to come out.

"Adam said I wasn't going to see Jed until I saw reason," Sarah said, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye.

Thomas coughed at the name she used. "Well, the Lord Phoebus had a change of heart." When she still didn't move, he went on to say, "Come on, Sar, it's me. You're safe with me."

"Don't call me that," she snapped. "You lied to me, Thomas."

"I didn't like doing it," he pleaded. "But orders are orders. As a soldier gathering intel..."

"You lied about being a Shifter. What other lies are you going to tell me?"

"I never said I wasn't a Shifter, only a half—"

"You never said you were, either!" Sarah finally shot to her feet, her face hot with anger as she marched right up to him. "Trusting you was a mistake. A mistake I don't ever want to make again."

"If I had told you from the beginning that I was a Shifter, would you have trusted me as you did then? No, we'd be in this exact same situation with you hating me."

Sarah scoffed and brushed past him out the open cell. He grabbed her arm and turned her around, leading her in the direction opposite of the one Phoebus had taken. She tried resisting, but Thomas tightened his grip on her.

"I'm taking you to your brother," he said quietly.

Thomas led her down an empty, torchlit corridor, before turning onto a passage lined with cells—several of them occupied. The cells were half as big as hers, containing only a small bed, where most of the prisoners were curled up in. Some of them had their backs facing her, others glanced up warily as they passed, fewer still got up to press their faces against the bars. One prisoner paced the confines of his cell, before rushing at the bars to shout in frustration when Thomas came into view. The loud noise made Sarah jump. Noticing this, Thomas quickened their pace, but what came up next was no better.

The agonizing screams Sarah had heard earlier started up again, louder than ever as they approached the cell it was coming from. Thomas stopped just out of view of the cell.