Ash looked like he couldn't believe what we were saying. "You recognize the Seer? That doesn't make sense."

I was picturing him in my head, trying to remember where I'd seen him because it definitely wasn't here. For some reason, I saw him in a long coat. Did we see him in the winter?

Jolie gasped, "He was at my house!" She smacked me on the leg, "The day I got sick! Remember?"

"Oh yeah! He was talking to your Mom. What the hell was the Seer doing at her house?" I looked at Ash, but he was just as confused as us.

Tate was the one that answered me, "The Queen probably sent him to take Jolie and see what he could find out, but you and her mother were there." He looked at Ash, "Didn't she get sick right after her visit to our house? The day you told Fawn and Dahlia about your feelings for Jolie."

Ash paled, "So this is all my fault. I told them how I felt and Dahlia must've run straight to the Queen to tell her I'd found love and wanted to stay. I shouldn't have said anything."

"No one blames you," Jo reached over to hold his hand.

"It's not your fault, brother. The Queen would have found out eventually, no matter what. I'm sure that's why Dahlia was there, to keep an eye on you."

"Why would she send the Seer to take me? Dahlia was already there."

Tate nodded, "You're right, and you two didn't even talk to him? He only spoke to your mother?"

"Yeah, he left before we got close enough to speak to him. We just thought he was trying to sell something. Your mom never said what he wanted did she?" I asked Jo.

"No, I threw up right after that, and she never mentioned him."

Ash and Tate looked at each other in a way that made me think Jo and I were missing something. "What is it?"

Tate looked uncomfortable, "The Seer is known for seeing into the future because that's usually what the Queen asks of him, but he also has a small gift for interrogation. Some people just feel like they should answer his questions and they may not even remember talking to him afterward. It's not used much because it works better on humans."

"What the hell could he have wanted with Mom?"Jolie was really pissed.   

"It could be nothing. He may have been sent to ask questions about you. The Queen likes to know her enemies."

Tate's words seemed to calm her, but she wasn't happy. "I wasn't her enemy, I didn't even know about her."  

"As soon as you and Ash realized you care for each other, you became her enemy whether you meant to or not."

The rest of the morning was quiet. All of us had a lot on our minds and I think we were just waiting to see how long the Queen would leave us there. The guards left us alone except for Pitch staring at us, and he walked away when Tate told him to; there were no other visitors.

Whispered conversations and reassuring touches were all any of us seemed capable of. Jo and Ash were sitting cuddled together, and Tate was pressed close to my side. Every time I moved he gave me a little touch or a look that said it was going to be alright. We were all worried about getting out of there, but we each had a different focus for our worry.

Ash's was Jolie and making sure that when the time came she'd run and not slow down to fight. He just wanted to get her home and anything else could wait. She seemed frustrated with that, but she was too focused on her mom to argue.

Jolie was worried about what the Seer could have done to her mom. She wanted to get home to see she was safe. 

I was worried about Tate. I hated the plan. Leaving one of us behind shouldn't have been an option. I didn't care how well he could fight or that it was his gift, I wanted him to run with us.

We could fight together to get out of here, but he and Ash agreed that wouldn't work. There were too many of them to fight at once, they insisted we'd need a distraction to be able to run.

Tate wasn't worried about anything. At least that's what he said, but I didn't believe him. He wanted us to think he was dauntless so we'd follow the stupid plan. He said he'd escape after us and meet us at the cave that hid the tunnel out of here. We were supposed to just wait.

Apparently, Ash should be able to knock out anyone that followed us just by telling them to sleep. He could only do that to one person at a time, and he needed to be close, which was a real bummer. If he could knock out a crowd that would be really helpful right now.

When Tate got there, we'd all go home together. That was it, the entire plan. I saw a lot of problems with it. What if he couldn't get away? How long were we supposed to wait without going back for him? What if something happened to him? He wasn't invincible no matter how much swagger he had.

My stomach was in knots; I felt like I could puke. I leaned forward and rested my head in my hands. I finally found someone I really liked, and he was a faerie who was going to enter a fight to the death as a distraction, so the rest of us could escape. What. The. Hell.

Tate touched my forearm, pulling my focus back to him. He slid his hand up to mine and interlocked our fingers taking my hand from my face.

Turning to him, I said, "I don't like this."

"I know," he nodded.

"I don't want to leave you, I think we should fight together or run together."

"I know."

"So much could go wrong."

"I know."

I shook my head, "Stop saying, you know! You don't know. The thought of leaving you here alone, forced to fight, is making me sick."

He reached up, and with his hand on the back of my head, pulled my face to his. Resting his forehead on mine, he closed his eyes and whispered, "Thank you."

It was hard to have a coherent thought with him so close. All I could think about was the feeling of his hand on the back on my neck and how close our mouths were. I had no idea why he was thanking me.

"For what?"

"For not wanting me to fight. For caring about how this will affect me and being brave enough to want to fight beside me. For forgiving me when I was thoughtless and giving me a chance, thank you."

I pulled back to look at him, surprised by his words. We'd only just met, but you can tell a lot about someone by how they handle the bad stuff. The shit had really hit the fan for us, and he'd been nothing but amazing. I liked him a lot.

"You don't have to thank me for any of that, just come with us," I whispered.

He shook his head, "We can't change the plan. I need to know you're getting out of here safely, and you'll be waiting for me at the cave. This is the best way to do that."

I didn't say anything, I just looked at his face pleading with me to understand and agree.

"Please Mark, and then when we get back to your world, we can do anything we want." He smiled, "For the first time, I'm sad I look too old for high school. You don't have much longer there anyway. I could be in college with you next year if that's what you want."

"You want to go to school?"

Laughing, he shook his head, "No, not specifically. I just want to be with you; I'll follow you anywhere if you'll let me."

A shocked explosion happened in my chest. I did want him with me. I nodded, "I'll let you."

He gave me his real smile, the one that touched his eyes, "I know," he winked, and we both chuckled.

"There's that charming conceit; I was starting to miss it."

He laughed and started to say something, but Ash interrupted, "Look."

Coming toward us were Hedera and Citrine, with Pitch following behind them. It looked like Hedera was here for mealtime again. She was carrying another pitcher that was probably filled with water and Citrine had a basket of food.

They stopped in front of the cage and went through the same routine as before, passing things through, and then closing the cage again. Hedera didn't walk away as quickly as before, and Ash took the opportunity to ask her what was happening.

"How long do we have before she comes to take us to the trials? Have you heard anything?"

She looked at him sadly, "I don't think you have long. People are already seated in the arena waiting for the show." On the word show, her voice turned hard and I got the impression she didn't like any of this either.

"Do you know anything about who's fighting or how many there are?" Ash asked.

Taking a deep breath she said, "She has a champion again. He's been in the fights for a while now." She looked at Tate, and I thought she might cry.

"It's alright Hedera. We don't blame you for any of this, there's no need for you to feel guilty," Ash gave her a nod.

"How could we be upset with the one who keeps us fed?" Tate grinned when she looked up. "You know these are my favorite," he smiled and picked up two of the giant rolls with honey, handing one to me.

She almost smiled but looked too sad as she turned to leave, "I'll see you soon."

Citrine gave Tate a quick nod before she and Pitch went back to their tree to watch us from a distance. We all took our spots around the food in the middle of the cage.

Jolie watched Hedera walk away until we couldn't see her anymore. "Doesn't she have to bring us food?"

Tate huffed, "Of course not. Why would she have to?"

"I thought it was her job or something. Why does she do it if she doesn't have to?"

Ash smiled sadly, "Because she's caring. She's the only one who can manipulate the vines; if she didn't want to come and bring us her own food, we wouldn't eat."

"She makes these herself," Tate said, holding up what was left of his bread.

"You two seem to know her pretty well. Are you friends?" Jolie asked.

"I think so," Tate smiled. "I spent a long time in one of her cages alone. She was the only visitor who didn't want me to fight."

"I didn't want you to fight," Ash said quietly.

"I know, but you weren't allowed to visit often either," Tate gave Ash an understanding look. "Hedera kept me fed and sometimes she would stay for a while to talk about anything except the trials. She was the only bright spot in my days for a long time."

"I understand she fed you, but she's also the one that caged you." Jo looked like she didn't know if she liked her or wanted to smack her.

Ash shook his head, "She doesn't want to cage us, she has no choice. She was born into her role just like I was. The only difference is she's not strong enough to fight her way out, and she's guarded closely."

"That's so sad." I could tell Jolie had decided she liked her, so did I.