Page 113 of Beloved Sacrifice

The idea that someone might really be down here…

“Up there,” Devon half-whispered, half-mouthed as he pointed to a section of tunnel above them. There was wood directly above, and the sound was filtering down through the spaces between the boards.

Juliette hadn’t been up there. At least she thought she hadn’t. “How do we get up there?” she breathed.

Franco frowned as he leaned closer. He was holding the light sticks they’d cracked before entering. He had one in his hand, and the others in an old-fashioned lantern he’d rigged up. The lantern held five or six sticks casting off green-yellow light. It was an old maritime lantern that had metal doors that closed over the panels of glass, allowing the light to be completely shuttered if needed. “If we double back and around to the left, there’s a tunnel that slopes up to connect with that one.”

“Too dangerous,” Devon breathed. “Wood floor. Charlotte said it wouldn’t hold. Haven’t had time to lay something else down.”

“Air shafts,” Franco countered. “If we go back for the map, we can find one of the air shafts that were built in to allow circulation.”

Devon took a few steps to the side, licked his finger, and held it up. He walked out of the circle of Franco’s light. Juliette followed, Franco on her heels.

Devon was standing in a small alcove. He studied it, looked up, and then said softly, “Found the air shaft. We climb.”

“The folder isn’t in here.” Weston headed for the entrance. “We’ll check the halls on either side on our way out. How long did he take to hide it?”

“Minutes,” Rose said softly. They had been long minutes.

“Then it can’t be that well-hidden,” Marek said. “Why don’t we take time to look now?”

Rose caught the flash of suspicion on Wes’s face when he looked at Marek. “The priority is the diaries,” Wes said. “We need to get to the Grand Master’s office. It’s going to take a while if we’re going to keep avoiding the larger tunnels.”

Juliette felt the leather of her boot soles slip on the stone and bit down on a yelp. Devon reached into the dark shaft and pulled her up. The voices were much clearer now, coming from the hall to their right. The deadly patch of wood floor was on the left.

Franco handed up the lantern, its shutters closed. Juliette’s eyes adjusted and now she could see it, faint light coming from around a corner in the tunnel. No, wait, she knew where she was. There was a large, empty chamber here. The fact that it was empty was one of the reasons they hadn’t bothered to fix the access tunnel.

Franco emerged, a shadow in the darkness. Juliette groped blindly and took his hand. They all paused to listen for a moment.

“We have to get closer,” Devon breathed.

Rose didn’t want to go any deeper into the tunnels. She wanted to get out. After Caden’s death, she’d had no problem playing the kamikaze, ready and willing to go down in a ball of flame as long as she took a few other people with her.

But now…now she’d tasted happiness. Tasted pleasure without pain. And she wanted more. She wanted a chance. She wanted another night with Weston and Marek beside her.

“There was construction,” she said. “They were building something, or maybe repairing. Caden was dusty.” He had been, hadn’t he? “The folio must be hidden in between some stones, or under the floor, or behind a wall.”

“It was. And we found it,” Devon said, stepping into the chamber, pointing his gun directly at the trio.

Juliette stepped next to Devon, and Franco appeared on her other side. He opened the shutters on the lantern and the green-gold light spread around then, adding to the hard, white light of the cell phone flash. Juliette’s gaze focused on Rose until Devon spoke again, his voice sarcastic and cold.

“You look good for a dead man, Weston.”

Juliette examined the man beside Rose. She’d never met Weston Anderson. He was tall with brownish-blond hair, and when he looked first at her, then at Franco, only one of his eyes moved.

“Asher,” Weston said coldly. Then to her, “Grand Master.”

Juliette stiffened, though she shouldn’t have been surprised. Rose would have told him. To protect her identify, she usually pretended to be one of the counselors and, if she needed, had someone else wear her robe and stand beside her to throw off any suspicion.

She finally noticed the third person, standing in the shadows.

“Marek?”

No wonder they hadn’t heard from their K and R man. He’d obviously switched camps.

Marek bowed, despite the fact Devon was still holding a gun on them. “Juliette. Devon. It’s good to see you both again.”

“You never called,” she said coldly.

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