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“It’s beautiful,” Darla breathed. “I expected it to look more skeezy.”
“It’s meant to look like a cushy vessel by trader standards.”
“Look, the guards are approaching.”
“Let’s give them some time. Trust me; they’ll be in and out without a hitch.”
Although I did trust Aodin, I was still nervous as we all hunkered back down in the wagon and waited.
And waited.
And waited.
It took an entire dog’s age, though it was just under two hours, before a specific knock sounded against the back wall. I jerked up in surprise but calmed down quickly when Aodin looked pleased.
“That’s the signal. Come on, let’s go.”
Not for the first time, we all followed the fae as he led us toward a corner of the storage warehouse. There, he gripped a shelf and pushed it to the side. I shouldn’t have been surprised to see that the piece of furniture quickly swung out of the way, revealing one of the skinniest trap doors I’d ever seen.
“Does that lead down to another tunnel?”
“You betcha,” the fae said, grinning.
“Are you sure your people are fae and not gophers in disguise?” I asked.
“Hah! We might be. We’ve developed a knack for burrowing under, haven’t we?”
Normally, we all would have shared a laugh at the situation, but I could tell that everyone was on edge. We were so close to getting to the boat, yet it would be so easy for everything to just go up in smoke if we were spotted or they somehow tricked us.
The tunnel we emerged into wasn’t really anything like the ones in the capital. It was less of a carefully constructed and enchanted passageway leading through the city, and more of a short length hewn into the ground, complete with dirt piles, dust, and cobwebs.
“We should pop up right in an equipment shed if I remember correctly,” Aodin said, feeling his way along the wall. It was only when he tripped that I belatedly remembered the fae didn’t have the same lowlight vision that the rest of us did.
Then Darla let out a curse, and I remembered that she couldn’t see, either. Whoops.
“Hey, should we light a torch?” I whispered, a little embarrassed I’d forgotten to.
“Takes too much time considering we’re already almost at the end,” Aodin answered before letting out a small sound of triumph. “Ah, here we are.”
He reached for the ladder that I could clearly see and turned to flash us a beaming grin. “Do you lot want to give a listen?”
We all did, just like we had in the city, and after a solid minute, I didn’t hear so much as a heartbeat or a footstep.
“I think it’s clear.”
“Agreed.”
“Agreed.”
It did make me feel proud that my senses were keeping up with my full-blooded shifter mate.
“All right, then. Let’s get you guys to my home.”
He turned and clambered up, pushing open the trapdoor at the top of the ladder before scrambling out of sight. I’d expected light to come pouring in, temporarily making my vision a little fuzzy, but apparently it was just as dark above our head as it was in the tunnel.
“Ladies first,” Kai said with a bow and a grin. I was glad that even with the dire situation we were in, he still maintained his sense of humor. It helped break the tension, that was for sure.
“Thank the Gods,” Darla cut in. “Can any of you supersensitive folks show me where this mystical ladder is, or let me into your mind so I can see through your eyes?”
