He reddened slightly but didn’t respond. He didn’t move either.
“Are you really going to suggest that I’m rushing so I can see Brett? Have you forgotten that my sister is trapped upstairs?”
Yellow eyes darted toward mine, then down at the floor. Schwint stepped over, allowing enough space for me to pass. “I didn’t mean it like that. I know you’re concerned about Cynthia. We all are.”
I started to push past him, then paused. “You don’t have to come if you don’t want—if it is going to bother you too much. It might be best.”
His head jerked up as he looked at me, hurt in his gaze.
“I didn’t mean it like that. I’m just saying if it’s going to hurt to meet him, then stay in the main part of the Cathedral. It would make it even safer if Gwala saw you out and about.”
“There’s been many times he hasn’t seen us. We’ve been off the grounds together a couple of times.”
I started to argue, then remembered Brett was only a few steps away, as well as the best chance we might ever have to get Cynthia out of Gwala’s control. “Do we have to do this now?”
“No. Of course not. Sorry. I just—” He broke off. I couldn’t tell if he got choked up or simply didn’t finish.
I waited for a moment longer.
He motioned down the dark staircase. “Let’s go.”
Without waiting or any more prompting, I tore off down the steps, almost falling again.
If I was being honest, part of my rush was indeed to see Brett—although if I really let myself think about that, I probably would have started running in the other direction.
Actually, if it all hadn’t been so sudden, I probably would have slipped into a complete panic. As it was, there’d been no other choice but to simply throw myself out of bed, explain it as quick as I could to Schwint, and move.
No matter how dire the situation, each step I took brought the realization that I was about to see Brett again a little further into actuality. Even so, all I had to do was think of Cynthia stuck in her gilded room and of Gwala’s wrath if we were caught, and all else faded into the back of my mind. Almost.
The stairs that descended the passageway were at least three times longer than the ones I’d grown so familiar with on the way to the mers. The deeper we descended, the cooler it got. We’d been rushing so quickly that at the beginning, I’d been dripping with sweat. Before long, the dampness on my skin left me freezing, despite the effort.
Without warning, we rounded one last curve and reached the destination. Caitlin hadn’t said where the passage led, I wasn’t even sure if Sonia had told her, but once there, I didn’t require any other explanation.
We halted in the entrance to a massive room. For a moment, I thought we were about to run into the ocean, then realized the steps curved once more down toward the right and smoothed out to a narrow stone walkway. The space was several hundred yards wide and across. The opposite end opened up to the night sky and the calm sea. Beside the walkway, the entire space was filled with ships and boats of all sizes. From small rowboats, to speedboats, to a large yacht that looked like it was part spaceship. Along the walkway were little life rafts. It seemed like they were the only way to reach the other ships that were anchored out in the deeper part of the open cave.
I’d wondered how the vampires got the mers to the spherical room. I’d decided they simply must have carried them through the forest and into the Cathedral, though I wasn’t sure how they would have been able to pull that off without the non-Royals noticing. I also wasn’t clear how long the mers could live without being in water. Now it all made sense. With a fleet the size of a small navy, it would have been a simple process of bringing their captives into the cave, up the stairs, and then down the adjoining flight. I’d noticed the other passage but had never thought anything about it.
“Wow.”
Schwint’s whisper startled me, and I flinched. “Explains a lot, huh?”
“No kidding.”
A spark zoomed up from one of the closer speedboats secured to the walkway. Its gold light flashed toward us, stopping as Newton materialized at the base of the stairway.
Schwint and I closed the distance and rushed down to him. “Where’s everybody else?”
Newton looked behind me, ignoring my question.
“We weren’t followed.”
Newton glanced at Schwint before craning his neck further to see more of the dark staircase. “Are you certain?”
“I haven’t lost my mind, Newton, or my abilities. Sonia was the last living thing in there besides us, so to speak.”
Satisfied, though grudgingly, the fairy turned and motioned for us to follow, his voice low as he spoke over his shoulder. “The queen said to tell you to rush, to waste no time.”
“Again, Pewlet, I didn’t think we were on a guided tour.”
