Moira rose from the floor, wincing as straightened her back. “Maybe there’s a basement.”
“Why would Chimera info be in the basement?”
“Because every Keep usually has a mage. Chimeras are magical. We’ll check there and if we can’t find anything, we’ll get the hell out of here.”
We crept down the hallway, hand in hand. The inside was better than the austere gray of the outside, but the decorating was still sparse. Someone here had a green thumb, though. The plants they passed were well cared for and bright with color.
“Here,” Moira whispered. “There’s a staircase.”
She cracked open the door, wincing when it made a loud creaking noise. We froze and waited for the calvary, but no one stirred.
Moira held the door open and motioned me inside. When the door shut, we were plunged into absolute darkness.
I froze, fear skittering up my spine, but Moira took my hand. “Relax. I’ve got amazing night vision. I’ll lead you down.”
As we walked, my vision got better, finally adjusting to the darkness. I’m not sure how long we walked, but the staircase was ridiculous, at least four stories down. When we got close to the bottom, Moira made a shh motion with her finger and crept down the rest of the way, motioning me to follow when she thought it was clear.
My eyes widened when I saw the room we’d ended up in.
A laboratory. Beakers and glass jars full of things I couldn’t identify lay scattered all over scarred wooden tables. Books and papers were stacked on top of each other. Something bubbled in a large glass container without a heat source.
“Let’s hurry,” Moira whispered. “This place is used often, and we can’t risk getting caught.”
I nodded and went straight for the papers. Moira went to the other side of the lab.
My eyes skimmed over every piece of scrap paper I could find looking for anything that might identify how much information they had on me and how many people knew.
Logically, I knew it would never be that easy, but I hoped to find at least a scrap of information to help me figure this puzzle out.
The papers were mostly scribbled formula notes with measurements and ingredients, the books not much better. I shuffled through another pile on the other side of the table to no avail.
But Moira eventually walked around the corner holding a sheath of papers, her face paler than usual and her dark eyes wide with shock.
“What?” I whispered.
“We need to get the fuck out of here. Right now.”
“You found something?”
“I’ll tell you about it once we’re away from this horror show.”
She looked like someone had hit her over the head with a cast iron pan. I wanted to scream at her and rip those papers away, but Moira looked so shocked I couldn’t bear to rattle her further.
“Come on,” I whispered, taking her by the hand. “Let’s hurry.”
When we were by the front door, Moira had to monitor the sentries once more so we could sneak out without alerting them. We could never have done this in a normal Keep situation. Our scents would have given us away the moment we entered their land.
These damn swans didn’t even have wards up. I almost felt bad for them in a twisted way. Yes, they were trying to breed me for their own nefarious purposes, but after seeing how they lived and seeing firsthand the lack of any normal security practices, I wondered for an amusing moment if they were too dumb to actually do anything about it.
The way it was now, I could wipe them out with a bare thought.
And, trust me, I’d thought about it.
“Go. Now,” Moira hissed, yanking my hand to follow.
A few minutes later, we were off their land. Moira sank onto the ground and dragged in a shuddering breath. Without a word, she handed the sheaf of papers to me.
When I finally dragged my eyes up and met Moira’s eyes, both of us slowly shook our heads.
