8
“No,” Ridley whispered. Something solid and cold pressed in around her. The ventilation duct. She was human again, though she hadn’t consciously let go of her magical form. “Nonononono.” Her face was hot. Cold sweat dampened her palms. Her thoughts stalled, rammed into one another, like cars in a pileup. This didn’t make sense. Nothing made sense. Archer was on her side. He had helped her escape the city. Helped her escape the Shadow Society’s base. He had lived with elementals for months.
Her mind raced back to everything that had happened, every incident that proved Archer couldn’t possibly be part of the Shadow Society, but everything was becoming too tangled for her to clearly examine.
“This isn’t happening,” she whispered, pressing her cold hands against her cheeks. They had spen
