Chapter 212
The wait for midnight was nearly unbearable, but when it finally arrived, I left Elva sleeping in the bed,
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and sneaked out into the hallway.
Mark was standing there with two other guards. He typically wore a serious expression, but today he
seemed especially grim. He must have shared Nichs’s frustration with the n.
“Be careful tonight. If anything happened to you…” He let the words hang.
I was confused. Surely the safety of his prince was more important than me. But he didn’t say anything
more. Instead, he just stared at me expectantly.
“ll be careful,” I said.
He nodded.
Turning from him, I started down the hallway. Nichs met me halfway. He didn’t say anything, just
offered his arm. I slid my arms in his and together we walked down toward the kitchens and into the
cer.
Brian was guarding the door to one of the rooms there, the one containing the passage. He stepped
aside when we came close.
Inside, Julian had already discovered the trigger for the passageway, and an eerie dark opening
loomed in the middle of a wall, hiding behind an empty bookcase that had been shifted aside.
In his hand, Julian carried arge, industrial–style shlight. He clicked it on.
Even with the light of the shlight, seeing the end of the tunnel was impossible. The stretch of the
tunnel was long, and the darkness eventually swallowed the light.
“We stay close together,” Nichs said. “Whatever happens, no one gets left behind.”
“Yes, yes, we all know the rules,” Julian said. He stepped into the tunnel.
Nichs and I looked at each other, and then we followed him.
The walls were made of brick, rounded along the top. Our footsteps on the stone floor echoed down the
long, empty corridor. The air was stale.
I wasn’t easily frightened by ces, but this tunnel felt so old that it had be alive.
The hairs on the back of my neck stood on head.
“Stay close,” Julian said.
We moved carefully through the tunnel. The light of the room we’de from seemed very far away
behind us.
The shlight flickered. We all stilled.
“Julian,” Nichs said, a warning in his voice. A warning that woulde far toote.
The light flickered again, and then went out.
My breath caught in my throat.
Plunged into darkness, I reached out for both Nichs and Julian and touched Nichs’s chest with
one hand and Julian’s shoulder with the other. Nichs caught my hand in his and held it. Julian
ced
his over mine and squeezed my fingers.
My fear spiked in such a dark, creepy ce in the dark, but having them so close, each offering
comfort
in their own ways, helped me feel safe again.
Then, Julian lowered his hand again and smacked the shlight. The light flickered again, blinding, but
it
didn’tst.
“Piece of junk,” Julian snapped.
“You forgot to change to new batteries,” Nichs said.
“You don’t know that,” Julian said.
Silence fell around us. The usation hung heavy in the air.
“Fine,” Julian said. “I didn’t change the new batteries.”
“Here.” Nichs shuffled with something in his pocket, then seemed to pass something to Julian. (1)
“You could have given me these new batteries before we walked into the creepy tunnel,” Julian said.
“I was giving you the benefit of the doubt.”
“An unwise decision,” Julian said.
“Yes,” Nichs replied. “I see that now.”
Julian reced the batteries, the shlight sparked back to life, and we continued walkthrough through
the tunnel.
At one point, Nichs checked thepass on his phone. This deep underground, he didn’t receive
any signal, but he could tell we were heading northwest.
“Julian.” He showed Julian the phone. In the dim light of the screen, Julian frowned.
“We should be extra careful,” Julian said. It was unusual for him to say such a thing.
“Why?” I asked. “What does the direction matter?”