Page 84 of Infernal Secrets

Ash pivoted and sprinted to the elevator, charging inside as the doors opened with Zeke on our heels. I had no doubt that if they weren’t trying to protect me, they’d be in their infernal forms, fighting alongside Ezra and Cyn.

I hoped they were okay.

When the doors closed, Zeke looked at the number pad. “Where should we go?”

“Down,” Ash said. “We need to put as much distance between this place and Rae as possible.”

“Wait! What about Ezra and Cyn?” I wiggled, and Ash set me down. I stumbled a little, righting myself by gripping the railing. “We can’t leave them alone with those things.”

“They’ll be fine as long as they stay together.”

“There’s too many of them!”

Ash pressed the ground-floor button. “You don’t understand how powerful Ezra is.”

Within seconds of the elevator’s descent, a roar echoed above us and the elevator screeched to a halt.

I gripped the railing, losing my balance. “What’s going on?”

“They’ve cut off our escape.” Ash smashed the buttons, trying to restart the elevator, but nothing happened. “We’ll have to wait for Ezra and Cyn.”

“Are we safe in here?” My gaze darted to the ceiling.

Could they get in through the shaft? They seemed to materialize from the shadows, so I didn’t put it past them.

Ash followed my gaze and shook his head. “We’ll hear them before they get in. We won’t let them hurt you.”

I buried my face in my hands, bending forward, the pain in my leg becoming hard to ignore.

I dropped my hands and scanned the elevator, freezing when I noticed Zeke. He’d been silent the entire time, and now I understood why.

He crouched in the corner, hands over his head, slender fingers trembling as he clutched at his hair.

“Ash,” I whispered, and he turned from the control panel to me, only to curse when he followed my gaze to Zeke.

Zeke whimpered, nails digging into his scalp as the lights flickered.

Ash stepped forward, but his heavy footfalls made Zeke tense and shrink further into the ball he’d curled into. “Only Cyn can reach him when he’s like this.”

“Like what?”

Ash dragged a hand over his face. “This is all Cornaith’s fault.” He looked at me.

“What do you mean?”

He looked torn, glancing from me to Zeke. “He wants to use Zeke’s abilities for his own personal gain and keep Cyn under his thumb, so he’s never treated Zeke right.”

Thinking about what “never treated right” meant, given Zeke’s behavior, made my stomach clench.

Ash sighed. “I won’t go into the details; it’s not my place. It’s Zeke’s story to tell. But this,” he said, waving a hand at Zeke in the corner. “This comes from locking a child in a small space with no light over and over for years, for hours or days at a time.”

“What?” My heart cracked hearing that. “Why? Why would anyone do that?”

“Control,” Ash spat. “What better way to ensure we did whatever Cornaith wanted than by going after someone we love?”

“That’s cruel. Why didn’t his parents do anything?”

“You don’t understand how the council works, but Zeke’s parents follow Cornaith’s orders without question.” Ash clenched his jaw. I saw the anger flaring in his eyes, but I knew he held himself back, steadying for Zeke’s sake.