I carefully turned to face it.
The opening wasn’t tall, maybe two feet at most, though high enough to crawl through if I wanted to do some exploring.
Where did this small passage lead? It could be a forgotten servants’ corridor.
Or the kind of passage meant for slipping unseen through the castle, for appearing behind someone before they knew he was there.
I imagined him in that narrow darkness, shadows coiling over his shoulders like a cloak, his breath ghosting the back of my neck as he hid behind me. The idea should make my skin crawl. Instead, heat pooled low in my belly, traitorous thing that it was.
Trew’s voice echoed again in the hall, and the door latch clicked.
My pulse shot into the sky. There was no time to think or plan or find a new place to hide.
I dropped low, twisting my shoulders and hips to scoot through the narrow entrance. The journal caught, digging into the crease of my belly, but I shoved past it, forcing myself inside. Uneven stone covered the floor, scraping my palms as I righted myself, making my poor hand start bleeding again.
The ceiling of the crawlspace was only a handsbreadth above my head and peppered with a few nearly extinguished faelights.
I carefully closed the panel with a soft snick as the office door creaked open.
Muted darkness snapped around me like a fist.
I didn’t dare breathe.
Cool air drifted past me from somewhere ahead. Silence pressed in on me from all sides.
On the other side of the wall, the desk chair creaked. He rustled papers.
I lay motionless, the journal a stubborn pressure under my tunic, my hand pressed against my shoulder to stop the flow of blood.
Dust prickled my nose, and it was all I could do not to sneeze.
My spine ached already. I didn’t know if this passage led anywhere. It could be a hidden compartment. Which meant I’d just sealed myself inside a coffin. But it kept me hidden from him for now. And Addie’s journal—Addie’s words—would soon be mine.
I smiled. Trew hadn’t caught me, and I wasn’t leaving his study empty-handed.
Silence descended beyond the wall. Was he still there, maybe working into the night? I could lie here until morning if need be. The stones gouged into my body, but I’d slept on the ground most of the nights traveling here. This wouldn’t be any worse than that. At least it wouldn’t start raining.
My tension slowly eased, and I rested my face on my forearms, nearly dozing. Truly, it wasn’t that uncomfortable…
I woke with a jerk, wondering why in the world I was lying on a stone floor, only to remember. Rising onto my knees, I stretched my hand toward the panel before I thought better of it.
If Trew was still working, he’d catch me. I’d evaded his reach so far, and I’d hate to give away the fact that I was snooping before I had a chance to decipher Addie’s journal.
My eyes had adjusted to the dark, and I could make out a tiny corridor stretching ahead, sloping upward. Time to go exploring.
The journal still pressed into my belly, its worn leather warm from my skin. Overhead, the muted faelights flickered like distant stars caught in a web of clouds.
As I crawled forward, the faint scrape of my knees on the roughfloor echoed in the tight space, and the slope pressed my weight backward, making each motion forward feel like a climb into something forbidden.
The tunnel appeared endless. My heart thudded, each beat pounding out both warning and anticipation. Would I find answers or betrayal at the top? Maybe just more questions.
Fear tickled across my skin. I didn’t want to get caught.
I forced my hands to remain steady and pushed on, the incline stretching out like a challenge. Cold stone grazed my knees, reminding me that this was no dream. Tiny grains bit into my skin, each scrape a reminder that I was far from the comfort of the castle’s torchlit halls.
At last, the passage leveled, and I came to another panel. I paused, pressing my cheek to the wall, listening but hearing nothing other than my own ragged breathing.
Slowly, carefully, I reached for the tiny latch on this side. It worked with the smoothness of something well oiled—and frequently used.
