Grayson had come out from behind the door and entered the hallway once he saw that the coast was completely clear.
I do want Ryder that way,Grayson admitted as he went down the hallway on the balls of his feet.
But?
You can read my mind.You know all my concerns,Grayson pointed out.
He was at the door to the room with the plans.Again, he pressed his ear to the door.He assumed they wouldn’t have someone inside.That would not give anyone a chance of making it in.He turned the handle and it clicked.
It’s locked!Grayson sounded appalled.
Yes, Grayson, doors beyond which treasure maps are kept are normally locked,Balthazar said dryly.
But how can I get in?Or anyone get in without a key?Grayson asked and then realized the answer.The key must be up here.
Grayson spun around.He thought he’d heard footsteps, but no.There was no one.He was the first who had gotten inside.He was pretty sure anyway.He went to the door across the hall.It opened into a bedroom.There were no lights on.He saw a dresser, a nightstand, and a desk, but nothing that screamed: I HOLD A SECRET KEY!
He went to the next room, which was another bedroom, but this one had a red lit candle on the bedside table.Grayson smiled.
Ah, more cinnamon!
He went over to the nightstand and opened the small drawer.Sure enough, there was a bronze key sitting right there without anything else inside.He plucked the key up when he heard a rustling at the open window.He started backtracking as he saw a hand reach up from below curled around the window frame.Someone had crazily decided to climb to this floor.Grayson was about to turn and leave when he heard a faint cry from the person trying to get in.
“Fuck-fuck!”a woman hissed.
Grayson gritted his teeth.Surely, a Vampire would help her.But then he saw her hand start to slip.He lunged towards her and grabbed her wrist just as her hand was sliding over the edge.He leaned over the edge and saw a young, Asian woman with a shock of black hair that was shaved to the skull on the left side.
“Take my other hand!”Grayson hissed.
She did, even as she got her feet under her, and with a big heave-ho, Grayson pulled her up and into the room.Both of them breathed heavily, hands resting on thighs, as they both recovered.
“Thank you,” she breathed.
“That was insane,” Grayson said to the unknown student.“You could have been killed.”
She shook her head.“A Vampire would have saved me.”
“You can’t know that–”
“Well, maybe not, but I think I had a better than 50/50 shot of that being true,” she answered.“But nothing ventured, nothing gained.”
She turned her head into the light that spilled through the was older than he thought.Maybe nearer 30 than twenty.She stood only a little over five feet with a slight form that was covered in black pants and shirt.She tossed her head back, brushing hair out of her eyes, and met his gaze steadily.
“What’s your name?”he asked.
“Hue Pham.”She dusted off the front of her pants.“And you?”
“Grayson,” he answered.
Was there a momentary pause before she
Who is she, Balthazar?
Someone that absolutely shouldn’t be climbing like that,Balthazar answered, sounding a little exasperated.She was a mountaineer.Got to the peak of Everest twice without oxygen.
Then climbing a three storey building should be nothing for her,Grayson said.
True, but that was before she was sick,Balthazar muttered.
