When I gripped that frigid metal palm, it proved unyielding, refusing to twist one way or the other, or to lift or lower—yet there didn’t seem to be a latch or a slot for a key. At least not on this side.
There had to be an answer to this riddle, though, and since this was the only door in a dwelling filled with unimpeded archways, I could only conclude thiswasthe exit.
Exit to where?
As I glanced between the nearest scythe, held by a closed hand, and the open hand of the door, thoughtsdidoccur to me. Interesting ones that asked if it might be worth it to try playing Pass the Pointy.
I gave the handle of the scythe closest to me a tentative touch,peering up at the massive black serrated blade fashioned into the shape of a raven’s wing.
“Fancy,” I whispered.
Maybe, since I now knew fate had it out for me, I shouldn’t be playing with sharp objects. But then, if I was going to perish by way of toppling scythe, wouldn’t I have fallen prey to one of the hundred I’d passed on my way to this one?
I grasped the handle and gently tugged. Then, with a yip of surprise, I rushed to brace the scythe with my other hand as the skeletal one snapped open, releasing the tool to me.
“Whoa, Nelly,” I half muttered, half grunted, stumbling back a step as I marveled up at the beautiful—and lethal—blade, galled by how heavy the thing actually was. Seriously, this bad boy would take major muscles to hold upright, let alone wield with any precision.
Grim didn’t have muscles—at least not in his Reaper Man form. He had, however, displayed impressive strength, both the physical and mental sort, in the face of danger.
He’d only faltered once thatI’dwitnessed, and that had been at the whispered name of Phineas.
I still didn’t know who Phineas was. It wasn’t my place to ask, and given Grim’s response to the whispers from those mirror wraiths, there likely wasn’t any wisdom to uttering the name in his presence at all. Not that I had the guts to dare. Despite the rescues and our interactions, and all I’d learned about him, there were still aspects of him that terrified me…
Apparently, not enough for me to be a good Helena, sit tight, wait for him, and not tinker with his important, highly dangerous, work-related stuff.
Carefully, moving slowly, I half shifted, half dragged the scythe over to the empty skeletal hand, which, with the same ferocity as the one that had released the weapon, clasped it.
The door popped open, and I jumped back as it swung wide, revealing a rectangle of the purest blackness I’d ever encountered.
“Holy smokes,” I whispered, “it worked.”
I gave myself a small and quiet round of applause for figuring out the trick, but then my trepidation returned.
While I wanted to leave, to explore, a small inner voice warned me to stay put, where Grim had said it was “safe.”
But then strange voices filtered down to me. Muffled and echoed, they came from above—one male, one female, both heavily accented.
Their words came garbled—at least until I drifted to stand at the brink of the darkness.
“—certainly wasn’t something I expected to happen this century,” said the female voice, her Scottish accent thick, lilting, and musical. “A right turnup for the books.”
“The good news is, we’ve done what we can for now,” replied the man, and I placed his accent as German. “Perhaps when he returns and we tell him what we’ve done, we will get answers. It’s entirely likely, though, that he’ll confess nothing and insist on continuing with whatever plan he has devised in that bone head of his.”
“Hardheaded Grim,” lilted a third voice, also male. “Wouldn’t want to be him.”
“Always a damn lone wolf,” grumbled the woman—the girl?
“Bound and determined to be an island unto himself,” agreed the first male voice.
“If only we could talk to the lass.”
By “lass,” she had to mean me.
“Grim Grim found a pretty bird,” sang the third voice.
Finding my courage, I extended a trembling hand into the darkness and sucked in a short sharp breath when my fingers encountered a stone wall. Then, growing braver still, I explored with my foot until I discovered the tread of a stone step.
“I admit, I’m curious as well,” said the man with the German accent. “This turn of events is as unexpected as it is unprecedented. Especially when it comes to Grim.”
