The Memory Thief by Lauren Mansy

Author:Lauren Mansy
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blink
Published: 2019-08-16T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER

12

I’m in the Maze.

It’s dark, damp, and the air is too thick to breathe. I pass rows of prisoners locked behind stone walls. None of them are Greer. Most of them are bloody and bruised, but the fight hasn’t left them.

A man reaches out to me, threats spewing from his mouth as he hits his shackles against the bars.

And I know if I called for help, no one would come to rescue me. They couldn’t even hear me with all the prisoners calling for my death.

No, not calling. They’re demanding it.

Cade and Joss are at the end of the row. Hands bound, faces ashen. Cade’s throat is bleeding, and Joss has an arrow through her heart.

I look down at Penn’s head in my lap, at the crimson blood blooming on his white shirt.

He opens his eyes for the last time. “I love you,” he whispers. “Never forget me . . . then I’ll always be with you.”

All three of them vanish. I cry out their names, but no one comes back.

My palm burns as if it’s been set on fire. I fling my hand down, but the envelope doesn’t move. Instead, Miss Julietta Lark slowly burns itself across the front. Each letter is red and shimmering, tiny flames on my mother’s Notice of Auction.

I look up. I’m standing in front of the auction block.

Tied to a metal chair, my mother is the only person on the stage besides Madame.

Madame circles her, her fingers trailing across my mother’s shoulders.

My mother opens her eyes and screams.

I wake with a jerk. A soft glow fills my eyelids. The floor creaks as a shadow falls over me. I fight against wanting to thrash and scream, forcing myself to remain still.

“Oh, poor dear,” a calm voice murmurs. “Commander Averett said she was quite distraught. It’s no wonder, with her injuries. She’s been through an ordeal to be sure.”

No one answers, so I gather he’s only speaking to himself. I’m not sure how much longer I can keep up the sleeping act. I clench the soft bedding in my hands, fairly certain a cell in the Maze wouldn’t have silk sheets, and order myself to find a way out of this mess.

We only needed one thing before we were trapped inside Aravid’s high walls—to steal the map of the Maze. But now what will happen to Reid if I don’t find a way to secure his release, as well? I imagine all the ways the Minders could cook up to torture a Sifter and think I might be sick.

There’s a rustle of paper before the man mutters, “Maybe it says something in here . . . or perhaps Madame . . .” He sighs. “Oh, dear. Oh, dear indeed. Gwendolyn Lark, it says right here.”

My heart pounds so loudly that I’m afraid he can hear it. He’s gone through my pack, found the notice. I gasp then curse myself when I hear the man whisper, excitement riddled through his voice, “Oh, she’s stirring. I’ll fetch Porter. Fetch him right away.

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