“How did you find this place?” he absently asks.
“They showed me earlier. It’s an escape path in case of emergencies, like if there’s a fire.”
Or an angry mob.
“Emergencies,” he parrots, unconvinced. He looks so confused with his face pinched, deep valleys cutting between his eyes—signs of age on an otherwise boyish face.
I set the board to the side. “You ready? We should hurry.”
He shakes his head and goes back to the photos. “Something isn’t right.”
“We don’t have time to hesitate.”
That earns me his gaze, fogged eyes clearing with a sweep of reality’s hand. He looks back at the door then blows out a breath.
“I’ll go first,” he says, chivalrous knight that he isn’t.
I back up to make room for him. He lowers himself into the hole and grips the metal bars of the ladder. When he looks at me, I give him a little nod, and he starts down.
The ladder leads directly to a vent above one of the first floor bathrooms. He kicks it open and lowers himself to the bottomrung of the ladder. When he drops, I follow his lead, sucking in a breath at the feel of his strong hands encircling my stomach,inchesfrom the knife.
I adjust the nightgown, ignoring the heat in my neck, and go to the cabinet under the sink.
Tension rolls off Sawyer as he watches me. Tension so thick, I half expect him to run from me, or knock my head in. But he’s still as I pull the items from the cabinet then lift the base out to reveal a black hole—a tunnel that will lead us to the woods.
“Luna, how the hell do you know about this?”
There—suspicion. Thefirstslip of it directed toward me.
I stand up and step back from him. “I told you. It’s an evacuation tunnel for fires. Everyone in the house knows about it.”
Not true. Thorne and I slowly added this years ago. Around the time I read about Marie Antoinette.
He gestures to the hole, his brow furrowed. “If they showed you this, it’s because they wanted to set you up. They’re going to be waiting for us on the other side.”
I bring my hand to my mouth and nibble my nails while pretending to think. After a few moments, I shake my head. “We don’t have any other choice.”
“You can still stay here.” He takes me by my shoulders. So gently. So unlike him. What a shame I had to spend so much time with the other side of Sawyer. “It isn’t too late. Just take the ladder back up?—”
“No.” I shake my head vigorously and turn toward the sink. “I’m not staying here another second.”
Before he can argue, I climb into the hole and drop down to the tunnel. My shoulders prickle with uncertainty… And adrenaline. Maybe even excitement.
“Come on,” I whisper above before crawling a few feet into the tunnel. It isn’t big enough to stand in. Just enough for a large body like Thorne’s to crawl through.
I begin to lead the way in the pitch black while Sawyer climbs in behind me. I pause and wait for him to catch up before continuing forward.
It takes us probably fifteen minutes to crawl out the other side, but when we do, we’re in the forest. I shove the board covering the tunnel and climb through. When I stand, I offer my hand to Sawyer. He doesn’t take it.
Standing, he wipes debris off his hoodie and turns to find the Keep in the distance. We aren’t that far away. Less than a hundred yards.
He’s confused—possibly about our location,probablyabout the fact that no one is waiting for us.
“Which way?” I whisper.
He looks around for a moment before glimpsing me in my nightgown. He pulls his hoodie off and hands it over before pointing into the dark. “It’s this way.” He starts into the dark way while I hurry to pull on the hoodie.
I follow him that direction, letting him fully take the lead. My heart beats wildly, ears buzzing with excitement, but on the outside, I play my part.
