Chapter 10 #3
“Good, you have ten minutes. Leave the keys on the bed when you’re done,” he says before he gives us all one last look and then disappears back down the hallway.
“Well, that was dramatically ominous,” Tori says, and I nod in agreement.
Finn ignores us both, twisting the key in the lock and opening up a door to a small room with a single bed and minimal furniture.
He ushers us inside with an urgency that has my eyes sweeping the dark hallway before hurriedly following him inside.
He closes the door behind him and then turns to face us.
“What are we doing here?” I ask.
“I need to find the switch,” he says before heading over to a small dresser across the room, using his hand to search inside it.
“What in the seven courts are you looking for?” Tori takes the words from my mouth.
He doesn’t stop what he is doing as he answers her.
“I told you, a switch. It’ll be a hidden keyhole that only this can open.
” He holds up the bronze key before tracing the bottom of the dresser with his fingers whilst talking.
“During the war, our ancestors dug a bunch of tunnels that run beneath the entire court, and to get to them, they created secret entrances. This is one of them.”
Tori’s face crinkles in surprise, and I feel the same emotion cross my own.
“I don’t understand, surely that’s not possible,” I say.
“Oh, it’s very possible.” He pauses to open the doors to a wonky closet leaning against the back wall, tapping against the back of it to check for only gods’ knows what. “It’s how many humans got away. We came close to winning, too, but I’m not going to give you a history lesson.”
Very smart. Perhaps I underestimated your species after all.
Perhaps you should help look for this damned switch.
Perhaps.
I wait for the help, but I’m met with silence.
Thanks!
An answering chuckle fills my head, and I just roll my eyes.
“So why do you not know where it is?” I ask as I stoop down on the floor, checking beneath the bed. Tori does the same, searching inside an old ottoman on the other side of the room. The room is small, surely there can’t be that many places it could be.
“I’ve never been to this entrance before.”
I sit back on my heels, scanning the room.
My gaze catches on the bedpost, its thick circular tip drawing my attention.
I jump to my feet and twist it as if it were a doorknob.
To my surprise, after a few tries, it starts to move.
I keep turning it until the ball is sitting in the palm of my hand.
I peer at the space where it was and gasp when my eyes land on a keyhole.
“Finn.”
The excitement in my voice brings him to my side quickly. He stands beside me, smiling.
“I could kiss you, Barron.” He beams.
“Try it and I’ll stab you.”
He grabs the keys, pushing the bronze one into the keyhole. “I love it when you talk dirty to me.”
I ignore him as he turns the key, and a click sounds in the silence of the room.
“You should probably hold on to something,” he tells us both. “It feels weird the first time.”
Before I can ask what he means, the floor starts to move downwards. A small squeak leaves Tori’s mouth, and I find myself grabbing onto the bedpost for support.
“What’s happening?” I ask as I watch the walls remain still as the floor sinks us further into the unknown darkness.
“It’s called a hoist. It will lower us to the tunnel floor.”
I look around in awe. Humans built this, and the vampires didn’t know. Fear and pride mix in my chest as I take it all in.
“This is incredible,” I whisper.
“Yes, it is,” he says from beside me.
The floor creaks and trembles beneath us, and though fear prickles at me, excitement swells in my chest all the same.
After what feels like forever, we hit the ground.
I stare out into complete darkness, my eyes searching the mass.
Cold air slaps against my skin, and a distant whistle fills the air.
Finn makes quick work of putting the bedpost back together before flinging the keys in the center of the bed just like the man asked.
“We have less than a minute before this thing starts going back up,” he tells us.
“You want us to go in there?” Tori asks, pointing to the darkness.
“Unless you want to go back?”
I pin Finn with a cold stare, but he only smiles before lifting his hand towards the darkness.
“Ladies first.”
I grit my teeth, my scowl promising him death.
I slide the dagger from my belt, scooting to the edge of the darkness, before stepping over the threshold.
The sting of cold air assaults me, and an uneasy feeling creeps up my spine.
I remind myself why I’m doing this. I need that donor spot to save Willow, and for Amabel to agree, she must truly believe Tori is dead, so this is the only way.
I move forward until I’m completely blanketed in darkness.
How the hell are we supposed to find our way in here?
“You still alive in there, Barron?”
“No thanks to you!” I call out before hearing him laugh.
I take a step forward, but my eyes refuse to adjust to the darkness.
“It’s pitch black in here, so you need to be careful,” I call over my shoulder.
I hear fumbling behind me and move slowly, unsure which way to go.
I stretch out and find the wall’s jagged edge for purchase; the damp surface bites into my palm.
A cold washes over me, and I curse myself for not wearing more.
But heavier clothes would slow me — I need quick access to my dagger, so a little cold is a price I’ll pay.
“You ok?” I call back.
“I’m ok,” Tori answers.
“Finn?” Nothing. “Finn? Finn, are you ok?”
A dark laugh comes from behind me.
“So, you do care then? Nice to know.”
“You bastard, I thou—”
The words die on my lips as six starlight orbs appear in the air above us, their bright white light illuminating the tunnel.
I laugh as I take in the vast space around us, bending my neck back to get a better view.
It’s incredible. It’s huge. I have no idea how humans could have ever had the strength or stamina to build something like this without the aid of magic.
A gasp comes from beside me, and I find Tori staring up just as I am.
“This just isn’t real,” she says, and I can’t help the smile that slips onto my face.
“Oh, it’s real alright,” Finn says as he dusts his hands off.
I turn towards him and narrow my eyes.
“You had those starlight orbs the entire time, didn’t you?”
An ear-splitting grin fills his face.
“Yup. It was just fun hearing the panic in your voice.”
“It’s going to be fun hearing yours, too,” I say.
“I look forward to it.”
“How did humans get their hands on starlight anyway?” It’s no secret our court trades shadows with the Court of Starlight in return for their light, the only way we can move through our darkness.
But those lights are a luxury, granted only when the vampires choose.
Humans are never allowed to gain direct access to such magic.
Especially magic as versatile as starlight.
The other two courts in Kalyn don’t trade in magic, and Rumyr’s kingdom trades nothing, bound beneath the rule of the Court of Nightmares.
Everyone knows they are friends to no one.
“There are a lot of things humans are capable of doing when vampires are not standing in their way, Adina.”
I find myself nodding in agreement with him. This place is proof of that. I still can’t believe it exists.
“As much as I would love to take a trip down memory lane and give you the full tour, we have at least an hour’s walk ahead of us.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Tori groans.
And just like that, all my joy disappears into thin air.