Page 203 of Stormbreaker

Apparently, I still do, because I find myself nodding.

His hand closes around mine, and he pulls me close.

“You’ll come?” he asks, relief written into every line of his expression.

“Yes,” I say. It comes out as a breath.

“Thank you,” he whispers before he turns away. I’m not sure exactly what he’s grateful for, but I follow Rook to the dead end as more noises sound in the distance, closer now. He runs his hands over the surface until he flips a latch. The rock trembles and then begins to slide, revealing a narrow opening and a tunnel leading up.

I’m too shocked to move. A secret entrance into New Manhattan. How did he do this? It probably wasn’t Rook but these superiors he just referenced.

“Let’s go,” he says, returning to take my hand.

But they’ve found us. The voices echo around the corner, calling for us.

“Come on,” he urges, and I walk-stumble with his arm anchoring my still-hesitant steps.

The footsteps and voices grow louder.

They aren’t even trying to be stealthy.

They’re in the tunnel, and they’re coming.

Rook pushes me through the opening, and then he’s following. He searches the wall, looking for whatever mechanism closes the door from this side.

“There!” someone shouts. “Stop them!”

Rook is cursing, poking, and pressing stones, his fingers trembling.

“Where is it?” he mutters to himself.

The Guards are coming quickly now, running full tilt. A blast fires, striking the rocks above my head. I cry out as stones tumble over us, but Rook is still searching.

“Poet, get up the path,” he orders, but I can’t seem to make myself move.

Finally, a click sounds, and the door shudders, slowly dragging closed. The Guards are just steps away, and the one out front lunges, just as the rock slams in his face.

Rook sags against the wall, breathing heavily. “Fuck, that was close.”

That’s when the rock starts rattling, and debris falls around us. They’re doing something on the other side, trying to get to us.

“We need to keep moving,” he says, taking my hand. His is cold and clammy. I don’t know how he’s still walking.

He pushes past me and tugs me up a sloping path.

In the distance, I hear the Guards. They haven’t found the switch to open the barrier, but it’s only a matter of time. “Nearly there,” Rook promises as we pick down the tunnel.

I hear the telltale scrape of rock against stone. They’ve opened the door. Rook squeezes my hand, walking faster until we’re running. Our footsteps echo around us, mixing with the Guards’ pursuit in the distance.

We reach another dead end, and Rook fishes out his compass from his pocket. It’s covered in blood, but I watch in puzzlement as he notches it into a slot and twists.

A key.

It’s a fucking key.

I hear a metallic clink and then a loud snap.

Another slab of rock shudders and grinds open, slowly sliding away.