Chapter 19 · That Night in Glass

The phone buzzes in my pocket. I don't look at it. Ronan's hand is locked around my wrist and we're running through a tunnel that smells like rust and something older. Something that makes my teeth hurt.

"Faster," he says.

I yank my arm free. "I know how to run."

He doesn't answer. Just keeps moving, one hand pressed against the wall like he's reading it. The tunnel curves left and the air changes. Colder. Wetter. I hear water somewhere below us and I don't want to know what's down there.

The phone buzzes again. I pull it out. Inez's backup map blinks on the screen. We're halfway to the north gate. There's a red dot behind us that wasn't there before.

"They're tracking us," I say.

Ronan stops. Turns. His eyes catch the phone light and for a second they're not brown. They're silver. Then he blinks and they're his again.

"How many?"

I zoom in. Three dots. Moving fast.

"Three. Maybe the hounds."

He swears under his breath. Looks back down the tunnel. "We can't outrun them."

"Then what?"

He doesn't answer. Just starts walking again, slower this time.