Footsteps rang out in the hall, followed by the low murmur of voices.
I froze. My pulse spiked, and I took one step backward, quiet as a breath.
Then I heardTrew’svoice, speaking to someone outside the door.
“…stop them any way we can. I don’t care what it takes. Send word to all the villages. Anyone who wants to bond can. We’ll hold the Rite weekly if need be.”
The answering voice sounded rougher and male, maybe one of his advisors. I couldn’t make out the words.
“I’ll speak with the Beast Council,” Trew said. “Make them understand. We needeveryone.”
I assumed he meant he’d advocate for more to make it through the trials, and while I appreciated that, he was going to catch me inside his study if I didn’t find a place to hide.
My heart beat like a drum inside my skull.
I glanced around. The map table was too exposed. The desk had space beneath, but if he sat, his feet would find me. I darted toward a big chair carved from blackwood, with a back tall enough to hide behind. I squished myself into the narrow sliver of shadow betweenit and the paneled wall, pressing my spine flat, willing myself to appear tiny.
The latch clicked, the sound like a lightning bolt straight down the spine.
I didn’t dare move.
Footsteps traveled across the room.
“Thank you. I’ll see you in the morning.” The door to his study banged closed.
I pressed my palms against the wall, forcing myself not to hyperventilate. The thin blade I’d used earlier remained in my hand, and I slipped it up my sleeve to hide it.
If I was found…
If he saw me now…
I didn’t want to think about what might happen. Not when I’d broken into his office and shoved a piece of my sister’s past into my pants.
Don’t breathe. Don’t move. Don’t think.
A moment passed. Maybe two.
The soft thud of boots stopped beside my hiding place.
His light scent wrapped around me, making my pulse thrash so hard it hurt. He was close enough I could reach out and curl my fingers around his calf, close enough that I remembered exactly how wonderful it felt to have him pressing me against the wall only hours ago. Stars, if he leaned down?—
He pivoted and moved away.
Silence descended again, but I could stillfeelhis presence in the room. Every hair on my body stood on end. My thighs ached from how tightly I’d curled. My back started to cramp, and I couldn’t help it. I shifted. A soft, mechanical sound echoed behind my spine. Almost nothing. So quiet, I doubted he heard.
I didn’t move, not even to look back. It hadn’t been the chair. Something had moved inside the wall.
A quick peek revealed a gap in the panel behind me, swinging into darkness.
I went as still as death, the shallow rise and fall of my chest my only motion.
If Trew caught me…
Another moment ticked past. Then another.
He opened the door and stepped back into the hall, calling out to someone named Blye, the panel shutting behind him.
I exhaled through my nose, forcing myself to remain calm and in control, as I tested the edge of the panel behind me. Nudging, pushing. The gap widened. Cool air spilled out of the opening, full of the scent of dust and stone, like the air inside crypts or cellars. It prickled along my arms and slithered down my spine.
