“The door—” Idris started, gasping.
“I know,” said Keir. “I was trapped the same way.”
Keir pulled the shelf that had concealed the hidden passage they had emerged from closed, and he and Alison tackled the door.
Just as they were swinging it open, the blade of an axe appeared through it, cleaving the old wood.
Alison screamed. All three of them jumped back, holding each other in the far corner of the closet.
The axe came free. Its wielder stepped into the light of Keir and Alison’s candles.
“Hello, all. Having a good night?” asked Rinka, slinging the axe over her shoulder.
Chapter Sixteen
THE SECRET PASSAGEWAY
Alison
Rinka rushed over to Idris, who could barely stand. “Gods, what happened to you?” she asked him as she helped him hobble to his desk in the next room.
“Curses,” said Idris. “Two, at least. Are you okay?”
“Me? I’m fine. Heard a strange whisper and hightailed it out of there.”
“Whispers?” asked Alison. They had followed the whispers to the secret door. To Idris. And they hadn’t had a moment to spare—any longer, and he would have been done for.
“A woman’s voice asking me to come closer. I’ve seen the picture shows. I figured if something was begging me to come closer, I ought to do the reverse.”
“Clever,” said Idris, coughing.
“We heard whispers too,” said Alison. “But they weren’t in Loegrian or any language I recognized. They were coming from books in the library. Spellbooks. They led us to the passage.”
“Hmm,” Idris groaned. “Perhaps—some—protective magic—of the college.”
“Don’t try to speak,” said Keir. “Let me have a look.”
“Gods, Idris, your neck,” said Rinka. “It’s red. You were choked?”
“Alison, can you hold the candle up so I can examine him?” asked Keir.
“I’m fine,” said Idris. “Just trying to catch my breath.” His voice was clearing some with each word, thank the Gods. “Did you find Ceri?”
Alison told him of the path they had found in the library, and Willow told them Ceri’s trail had led there as well.
“Let’s go,” said Idris, stumbling to his feet.
“Perhaps you ought to wait here,” said Keir. “I see no immediate signs of damage, but some of them can take hours to appear.”
Idris gave him a look that told him there was zero chance of that happening with Ceri still out there.
“Let’s take the shortcut at least,” said Alison. “The passage in your closet should take us right back there.”
Truthfully, Alison would have liked to have sat down herself. She and Keir had used an extraordinary amount of magic to free Idris, and she could see that Keir was feeling it as well.
Rinka, on the other hand, looked great. “Maybe there’s something to this conduit thing,” she said cheerily. “You lot burn yourselves out, and I reap all the rewards.”
“Where did you get that axe?” asked Idris.
