on the bars above her. âWhat about you, Mali?â
Two arms and a head appeared, upside down. Thin as she was, Mali had to be the only one who could squeeze her head between the bars. âI do not sleep either.â
âWhere have they been keeping you?â Lucky asked.
Cora told him about the six-by-six cell, and the grimaces onboth his face and Maliâs said they were all too familiar with it.
âI do not think they have caught Leon,â Mali said. âHe might come back for us.â
Lucky snorted. âHe wonât.â
The disappointment on Maliâs face was plain to see, even upside down. In the cage, she and Leon had been matched. An arrangement that Leon had resisted, to say the least, and yet Cora knew that the Kindred had matched them because they were more alike than he wanted to admit.
Cora reached up and squeezed Maliâs dangling hand.
Luckyâs voice dropped an octave, as though he knew he was treading dangerous ground. âThey said the Warden brought you here. He didnât hurt you, did he?â
Cora felt her heart beat just once, painfully, as if someone had reached into her chest and squeezed out all the blood. Had he hurt her? Heâd decimated her.
She clenched her jaw.
âIâm fine.â She squinted into the darkness. âAre there black windows here? Are they watching us?â
âNot as far as I can tell. It isnât like the cage, where they watched us all the time. They donât seem to care what we do, as long as we donât cause trouble. Wait until you get a good look at this place during the daytime. Itâs a dump.â
Mali grunted her agreement. âWe are not prime specimens anymore.â
Cora glanced toward the other cells, listening to the faint sounds of shifting bodies as the others slept. She pulled her blanket tighter. Chicagoâs blanket. What had he done to merit being dragged off on his nineteenth birthday, instead of being sent to Armstrong?And what were the Kindredâs lies heâd been yelling about?
âI donât know if I believe a word Dane says,â Cora said, âbut we canât stay here.â
Lucky let out a harsh laugh. âWe tried to escape. You know as well as I do how that played out.â
âIâm not talking about escape,â Cora whispered. âCassian has a different plan. Thereâs a series of tests thatâs happening in a few weeks. If I run them and pass, humans will be granted intelligent species status. They wonât be able to cage us anymore. Thatâs why he put us here, to train me in psychic abilities secretly so I can pass the tests.â
Mali, her long braids dangling toward the floor, let out another soft grunt. âYou speak of the Gauntlet.â
Cora nodded.
Lucky stared at her with an unreadable expression in the blue glow. âPsychic abilities?â There was a strange undertone in his voice. She couldnât shake the feeling that words like freak were circling around in the back of his head.
âWill you do it,â Mali asked.
âI didnât say yes,â Cora said. âI canât bring myself to trust him. He had me completely fooled before. You have no idea how awful it is to even be around him, the constant reminders that he was lying the entire time.â
Lucky didnât respond right away, and she realized her connection with Cassian was probably the last thing he wanted to talk about.
âThe Gauntlet is dangerous,â Mali said. âEleven humans attempt to run it before. None still live.â
âThey died in the puzzles?â
âA few. The physical challenges are difficult, but the moral and perceptive ones are most dangerous. They can break your mind. Some humans go insane and die after.â
âWhat kind of puzzles were they?â Cora asked.
âNo one knows,â Mali said. âThere are rumors that the moral tests form impossible choices: for