“What is it?” Sethi took the binoculars from her and looked through them himself.
“There’s a group of people with rifles,” said Jennifer. “They’re the ones with the flashlights. They’ve got prisoners.”
“Who? Who have they got? Can you see?” I asked quickly.
“Kara?” whispered Constance.
Sethi shook his head. “They’re too far away to see clearly. Wait. Gamóto! Where did they go?”
He returned the binoculars to Jennifer. “I lost sight of them.”
“Do you think they saw us?” Constance breathed.
“No,” answered Sethi. “I don’t think so. They were walking in a straight line. Not looking over this way, as far as I could tell.”
“But if they’ve got night-vision binoculars, too? They might have seen us. Maybe they’re hiding and waiting.” Jennifer looked again through her lenses.
“If they just vanished,” said Constance, “maybe that means there’s a passage that goes underground to the monastery. Ancient castles had that kind of thing, didn’t they? Hidden passageways?”
“Too risky,” said Jennifer. “We can’t assume something like that.” She gazed straight upward to the top of the fencing. “Risky to go over the wall, too. But we don’t have much of a choice.”
Constance exhaled, turning towards the dark hills. Her voice flattened when she spoke. “There’s a hidden passageway in the chapel. Petrina told me.”
“What?” Jennifer hissed, grabbing Constance’s arm. “You told Petrina where we were going?”
I stared at Constance in shock.
Constance shook her head, twisting back to face Jennifer. “No, she knows nothing. All I did was ask her about the image of the chapel. She and Rico found out some things about it. And about the monastery.”
“Do they know where the island is?” demanded Jennifer, still clutching Constance’s arm.
“No. They have no idea.” Constance shivered, the shiver running through her voice.
“Are you sure about the chapel?” Jennifer asked.
“I’m sure.” Constance bent her head. “At least, Petrina was sure.”
“I know her,” muttered Jennifer. “And she knows her stuff.”
Sethi rubbed the back of his neck. “Okay, look, the thing that Constance did has been done. We can’t change it. And you know, it makes sense about the hidden passageway. Maybe we should go check it out.”
Jennifer let her hold on Constance drop. “Okay. I’m outvoted. We’ll wait another minute and then head out. Everyone stay low.”
63. Gray
WE CREPT ACROSS THE HILLS TO the chapel, Constance and I following close behind Jennifer and Sethi. The captives and their captors had vanished there.
I couldn’t shake the feeling that the members of the Yeqon’s Saviours cult had simply switched off their flashlights, and they were waiting here to ambush us. But this was the better of two bad options if there really was a secret entry in the floor of the chapel.
Sethi’s face held a sheen of sweat. “Could be a trap walking into that.”
Jennifer pulled a balaclava over her face. “I’ll go check.”
“Not you.” Sethi touched her arm. “I’ll go.”
“I’m better at this,” she told him. “I’ve been doing this for years.” Without waiting for a reply, she left and headed away, lithe on the rocky slope of the hill.
Sethi turned to us with a tight expression. “I know this is what we signed up for when we came here. But the practice is different from the theory.”
“I know,” Constance whispered back. “We’re soldiers in a war. That’s what it feels like. A war.” She gazed back at the high walls of the monastery. “We can’t win this, can we?”
Sethi bowed his head in acknowledgement. “Stay with us, Constance Lundquist. If your daughter is here, may you get the chance to see her. If we don’t win the war, maybe we can win the battle.”
Constance nodded, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.
I looked away, trying not to let a bitter sense overtake me. All this just to win a battle? Evie might already be dead. And all I’d get was the chance to know what happened to her. But Sethi was right. This was what we signed up for.
Jennifer reached the chapel, glancing back once at Sethi. I understood now that she would stop at nothing to find out what happened to her brother. She’d already given her life for that cause. But was she going to take us into danger without a second thought?