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At the end was a door that opened up behind the stairs. From the outside, the door blended in with the wall, and you wouldn’t know it was there if you didn’t know about it beforehand. I took a step forward, but Rohan jerked me back just before two voices sounded, coming closer as they descended the stairs.
“Yes, just outside,” one voice said. “She wishes to speak to the queen. Alec said she was a human.”
“A human? What in the divine is a human doing in our realm?” The other voice sighed. “I’ll handle her. You take this to the third floor. Queen Amaranth will be displeased if it isn’t in the atrium when she returns.”
“Yes, sir,” the first guy said before their footsteps disappeared in opposite directions.
After a moment of silence, we assumed they were out of sight. Thank you, Ember! Her distraction worked. We slipped out from behind the stairs and climbed to the next floor, feeling for the secret door behind the stairs. Fortunately, we hadn’t encountered anyone else but kept close to the walls regardless. Soon, we were behind the walls, again.
Behind the walls again, Rohan and I crept along, our footsteps occasionally creaking a floorboard. We’d stop, hold our breath, and listen to ensure no one else heard. Though even if they did, maybe they’d assume there were rats in the walls. Did they have rats in the fae realm?
Newt said there would be a secret door in the wardrobe of her study. Was the entire palace built on secrets? I thought a secret entrance through a wardrobe was only something you’d see in movies, not the fae realm. And why the hell did she have a wardrobe in her study, anyway?
To hell with this kingdom and their weird shit. Getting those stupid documents and getting the hell out of here was all I wanted.
After a few minutes, we found what we assumed to be the correct door. But when we opened it enough to peek through the crack, it looked like the entrance to someone’s bedroom. Rohan quickly shut the door and ushered me forward.
The walk behind the walls left no room to move around. It was incredibly narrow, allowing us enough space to walk ahead, and nothing more. On the second try, we found the door.
Pushing aside the coats that hung in the wardrobe, we peered out to make sure the room was empty. With no one in sight, we stepped out, getting to work.
“We might not have long, so let’s move fast,” Rohan said, heading straight to the desk. “I’ll look for the documents. You keep an eye out; let me know if someone’s coming.”
I nodded, walking to the door. At first, I placed my ear against the cold wooden door that looked to be centuries old but sturdier than the day it was built. My eye caught the glimmer of the handle and the skeleton keyhole.
Hunching down, I peeked through the keyhole into the hallway. The rustle of papers and drawers opening then closing was nothing compared to the pounding of my heart. Its beat was so rapid, I spent half my time in that room wondering if someone could have a heart attack in their 20s.
Footsteps down the hallway brought my attention back. “I think someone’s coming,” I whispered, even though they weren’t within my line of vision just yet.
“I haven’t found them yet,” Rohan said, digging furiously through the papers.
“Tough shit,” I answered. “We need to hide.”
“Not until I find those documents.”
The footsteps made their appearance in the form of two people walking down the hallway, steadily coming closer.
“We need to go!” I shouted in a hushed whisper, my voice trembling as panic consumed me.
“Got it,” Rohan said as he tucked the documents into his jacket and zipped it up.
We scurried to the wardrobe, but before we could climb inside, the knob turned, and in walked two figures.
“Oh, shit,” Rohan said when their eyes met ours—first wide and bewildered and then narrowed in slits.
For a brief moment that felt like an eternity, we were at a standstill. None of us moved or spoke, unsure what the others would do, plotting our next move in mere seconds.
“Guards!” One guy shouted.
And that was the moment I knew we were fucked.
