That's what Delosdoesn't understand, shethought. He doesn't see them as people, so he can'tcare about them. All his life he's only cared abouthimself, and now about me. He can't look beyondthat.
If only she could think of a way to makehimsee-but she couldn't. As the hours passed and thesilence began to wear on her, she kept trying.
No inspiration came. And finally the light outsideher cell began to fade and the cold started to settle in.
She was half asleep, huddled on her chilly bench,when she heard the rattle of a key in a door. She jumped up and went to peer through the bars, hoping to see Delos.
The door at the end of the narrow stone corridoropened and someone came in with a flare. But itwasn't Delos. It was a guard, and behind him wasanother guard, and this one had a prisoner.
"Jeanne!" Maggie said in dismay.
And then her heart plummeted further.
A third guard was half marching, half supporting Aradia.
Maggie looked at them wordlessly.
It wasn't like Jeanne not to fight, she thought, asthe guards opened the cell door and shoved theother girls in.
The door clanged shut again, and the guardsmarched back out without speaking. Almost as an afterthought, one of them stuck a flare in an ironring to give the prisoners some light.
And then they were gone.
Jeanne picked herself up off the floor, and thenhelped Aradia get up. "They've got P.J. upstairs,"she said to Maggie, who was still staring. "Theysaid they wouldn't hurt her if we went quietly."
Maggie opened her mouth, shut it again, andtried to swallow her heart, which was in her throat.At last she managed to speak.
"Delos said that?"
"Delos and Hunter Redfern and that witch.They're all very chummy."
Maggie sat down on the cold bench."I'm sorry," she said.
"Why? Because you're too stupidly trusting?"Jeanne said. "You're not responsible for him."
"I think she means because she's his soulmate,"Aradia said softly.
Jeanne stared at her as if she'd started speaking a foreign language. Maggie stared, too, feeling hereyes getting wider, trying to study the beautiful features in the semidarkness.
She felt oddly shy of this girl whom she'd calledCady and who had turned out to be something shecould never have imagined.
"How did you know that?" she asked, trying notto sound tongue-tied. "Can you justtell?"
Asmile curved the perfect lips in the shadows."I could tell before," Aradia said gently, backing upquite accurately to sit on the bench. "When youcame back from seeing him the first time, but Iwas too foggy to really focus on anything then. I'veseen a lot of it in the last few years, though. Peoplefinding their soulmates, I mean."
"You're better, aren't you?" Maggie said. "Yousound lots moreawake." It wasn't just that. Aradia had always had a quiet dignity, but now therewas an authority and confidence about her thatwas new.
"The healing women helped me. I'm still weak,though," Aradia said softly, looking around the cell.
"I can't use any of my powers-not that breakingthrough walls is among them, anyway."
Maggie let her breath out. "Oh, well. I'm gladyou're awake, anyway." She added, feeling shy again,
"Um, I know your real name, now. Sorry about the misunderstanding before."
Aradia put a hand-again perfectly accuratelyon Maggie's. "Listen, my dear friend," she said,startling Maggie with both the word and the intensity of her voice, "nobody has ever helped me more than you did, or with less reason. If you'd been oneof my people, and you'd known who I was, it wouldhave been amazing enough. But from a human, who didn't know anything about me ..."Shestopped and shook her head. "I don't know if we'll even live through tonight," she said. `But if we do,and if there's ever anything the witches can do foryou, all you have to do is ask."
Maggie blinked hard. "Thanks," she whispered. "I meanyou know. I couldn't just leave you."
"I do know," Aradia said. "And that's the amazingthing." She squeezed Maggie's hand. "Whatever happens, I'll never forget you. And neither will theother witches, if I have anything to say about it."
Maggie gulped. She didn't want to get startedcrying. She was afraid she wouldn't be able to stop.
Fortunately Jeanne was looking back and forthbetween them like someone at a tennis match."What's all this sappy stuff?" she demanded. "Whatare you guys talking about?"
Maggie told her. Not just about Aradia being Maiden of the witches, but about everything she'dlearned from listening to Hunter Redfern andSylvia.
"So the witches have left the Night World," Aradia said quietly, when she was finished. "They wereabout ready to when I left."
"You were coming here to talk to Delos," Maggie said.
Aradia nodded. "We heard that Hunter had gotten some lead about the next Wild Power. And weknew he wasn't goingto take any chances on letting Circle Daybreak get hold of this one."
Jeanne was rubbing her forehead. "What's Circle Daybreak?
'It's the last circle of witches-but it isn't justwitches. It's for humans, too, and for shapeshiftersand vampires who want to live in peace with humans. And now it's for everybody who opposes the darkness." She thought a moment and added, "I used to belong to Circle Twilight, the ...not-so wicked witches." She smiled, then it faded. "Butnow there are really only two sides to choose from.It's the Daylightorthe Darkness, and that's all."
"Delos really isn't on the side of the Darkness,"Maggie said, feeling the ache in her chest tighten."He's just-confused. He'd join you if he didn'tthink it meant me getting killed."