Part 42 (1/2)
”He's what?”
Diana chewed on her lip. She almost had it. ”You've been fighting the darkside in this mall for a while now, right?”
”Yeah.”
”Have you seen any women, human-looking women, fighting on their side?”
”No. s.e.xist b.a.s.t.a.r.ds. They think a sister can't be evil enough? They never met my Nana, that's for sure.”
”Do they ever take any of the elves prisoners?”
”No.”
”So if they're going to chain something up, they'd be chaining up their own guys.”
Kris glanced up at the chains, then back at Diana. ”Okay, but why would they do that?”
”They're evil.”
”Right.”
”And all of their guys are a lot bigger than we are.”
”Yeah.”
”And these manacles are two solid halves of iron. Not adjustable. In order to hold their guys, they've got to be a certain size.” Diana folded her thumb in against her palm and slid her right hand free. ”They're too big to hold us.” Sliding out her left hand, she beckoned to Kris. ”Come on.”
”But . . .”
”I'm out, aren't I?”
Frowning, Kris worked at her lower lip with her teeth and slowly slipped both hands free. ”So how come they were holding us?”
”Because we believed they would.” It was twistier than that, but not really by much.
”If that's a Rule, it's a f.u.c.kin' stupid Rule.”
”So not arguing here.”
They stepped out of the alcove together, but as Diana began to turn right, Kris' fingers closed around her arm, dragging her to the left with a terse, ”Come on.”
Diana dug in her heels. ”No. We need to go the other way.”
”Delusional much? We need to get back and warn the others.” Her grip tightened. ”That guy, he said they were being dealt with.”
”Except that we don't know how time's running in that end of the mall. They might've been dealt with days ago.”
In the barely adequate light from the torches, Kris' eyes looked completely black with no differentiation between iris and pupil. ”Then it might not have happened yet.” She gave Diana's arm an impatient shake. ”We need to get back and help them! I'm Arthur's captain. I need to be there.”
If anyone could understand the pull of responsibility, it was a Keeper. Still . . . ”There's nothing you can do. You . . . we, have to trust that Claire handled it. Can handle it. Will handle it.” She wanted to sound comforting but suspected she sounded as though she were trying to convince herself. ”Besides, she has Sam with her.”