Gideon held me in the shadows until enough time had passed. He dropped his hand and moved beside me.
“We need to leave,” he said.
“What’s going on?” I whispered. “Why is Kane sealing the royal wing?”
“I don’t know, but it’s not good. Something has happened.” Gideon glanced at the book I clutched to my chest. “Let’s go somewhere and look at that.”
Taking my hand, we vanished, and he went to the door.
Outside in the hall, will-o’-the-wisps floated around. They drifted through the corridor like curious sentinels, their golden light bouncing shadows off the walls.
“We can’t go that way or they’ll spot us,” Gideon whispered, then tugged me back inside.
“What are we supposed to do?”
“The passageway.”
“You want us to follow Kane?”
“The wisps answer to the king, and they can see through anyillusion. We have no choice.”
Holding the book tight, I considered our choices, and none of them were good.
Gideon tugged me toward the fireplace and pressed everything he could touch until something clicked and the wall slid away.
No light. Complete darkness.
“I don’t want to go in there.” I pulled away from him and stepped back into the room.
Gideon grabbed a lantern hanging on the hook and turned the knob. A warm glow illuminated the stony passage. “We have no choice.”
“Do you even know where this leads?”
He hesitated, his gaze flitting to the floor. A flicker of uncertainty strained his expression.
“Great.”
Against my better judgment, I followed Gideon inside. “No need for camouflage,” he said. “The light can’t be reflected.”
Slowly, we took the passage down.
The walls pressed close on either side, the damp air thick with mildew. I sneezed, and Gideon turned around with widened eyes as if that one noise would doom us both.
Sorry, I mouthed, and we continued.
The dark passageway wound around, coming to a fork. Gideon looked both ways before heading right.
The stone beneath my feet was damp, slick with something that clung to the soles of my feet. I fought the urge to gag as we stepped forward. The air grew heavier with every inch, stale and full of rot and mold.
Had something died down here?
With little light, I could barely see ahead or behind us.
The lantern flickered. How much oil did we have? Would it be enough?
Something scurried past my feet. I squeaked, and I grabbedGideon’s back.
“Something just touched me,” I hissed. “How much longer?”
