Hope's Ruin

24 | Queen Of The Underworld

The descent was longer and deeper than Pepper could have ever imagined. She and Fisk had plundered every tight cave and grotto—foraging for mushrooms or succulents or algae— thinking they'd covered every inch of Silver Hollow. But in truth, the caves had depths they could never reach.

Her thoughts lingered on her brother and the words Levi Sawyer had let slip.

I made a trade. Hope's Ruin, The Spear, the Doctor and her son in exchange for the lives of hundreds.

The Doctor and her son?

She couldn't mean Fisk.

She couldn't mean that the Doctor was—

Mom?

Pepper shuddered.

That was impossible.

Madness.

Why would Mom masquerade as some demonic sidekick to The Governor all this time? Why would she hide from them up in Angaarspear 4? Fisk had been working up in The Spear for months. Did he know? Had he always known. And, if so, why would he keep this secret from his sister?

Pepper felt like she was going to be sick. She wanted to scream. Kick something. Punch something. Release all the anger and hurt boiling inside.

With Flake 99's strapped digging into her shoulders, she gripped the cold scaffolding with one hand, Alderson's skull staff in the other, and tried to push the unanswerable questions to the back of her mind.

The platform juddered as it passed many levels. Humans and reanimates, bathed in lamplight and swirls of vapour, looked up from their conversions and trades and games.

There must have been hundreds living in Silver Hollow.

Perhaps thousands.

It really was a city.

A vast, deep, functioning city.

Silver Hollow had come a million miles from the cold and dark that she and Fisk remembered. Pepper's skin felt alive at the thought of it. About a life of safety and inclusivity. About a future that stretched into years, not just days.

She turned to Erin. The girl had her hands in her dungaree pockets and a far away look in her eyes. Dreaming of the past, no doubt. Of Number Twelve and The Patchwork Woman. Her boat Lazarus, and the adventures she'd had on board with Marshall and Socks and—

"Raven?" Pepper whispered, noticing a lemon-yellow beak fussing at the stitching on the lip of Erin's pocket. "What's he doing here?"

"Insurance," Erin replied. "You know, if anything happens."

"What do you imagine is going to happen?"

"If this new world has taught me anything, it's that danger and heartache lie around every corner," she said. Raven clicked his beak in approval. "If we're hurt or captured or...worse, Raven can fly, escape, find a way out and bring help."

Pepper looked at Webster. The mannequin's face was completely unreadable, as blank as the chiselled rock that swept past. Could he hear any of this? He's barely let them bring Flake inside. She doubted he'd tolerate a smuggled blackbird too?

"Fine," Pepper said, turning her back to the mannequin. "Insurance. Got it. You good?"

Erin nodded and tapped the pistol. "Ready for whatever comes our way."

"We're safe here," she reassured her. "Silver Hollow is safe."

Erin curved an eyebrow above her lopsided glasses. "I'm sure you're right."