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Accordingly, they began a slow pilgrimage around the interior of the building. Pietro had to admit he didn’t look too closely at the objects he was supposed to be admiring. He was always half-turned toward that central dais, keeping an eye on the crowd, trying to keep track of how many priests were mingling with the parishioners, and how many might be taking note ofthem.But he only spotted five priests, all of them deep in conversation with very somber-looking visitors, and none of them seemed to have any attention left for sightseers bent on mischief. Even the temple guard appeared to ignore anyone who didn’t draw too close to Cordelan’s masterpiece.
Cody and Pietro spent what seemed like an hour memorizing the features of the kneeling woman. “No one’s looking this way,” Cody breathed. “I’m just going to slide into the shadow of the pillar and unlock the door. You stay where you are until I wave you over.”
Pietro nodded because he couldn’t speak. As naturally as fog lifting, Cody eased away and drifted out of sight. Pietro shifted his body so he could simultaneously watch the door and observe the broad open spaces of the temple. The guard was frowning at a small boy who clutched the rope barrier and stared with longing at the god’s landscape. Two of the priests were conferring with a concerned-looking man. Another comforted a sobbing woman. Two others sat with their backs to Pietro, holding intense conversations with petitioners.
A flutter caught his eye, and he looked over to see Cody waving from the half-open door. Keeping all his attention on the interior of the temple, Pietro sidled backward blindly until he felt Cody grab his arm. They hurriedly ducked through the door and shut it behind them.
“I can’t believe that worked,” Pietro whispered. His heart was hammering so hard that he could feel his heavy pulse at his throat, at his elbows, in his palms. “I can’t even believe yourkeyworked.”
The door had led them to a dark hallway that appeared as if it might circle the entire perimeter of the temple. The only light came from widely spaced opalescent disks set in the walls at irregular intervals. More of the god’s handiwork, or at least Pietro had never learned what material was used to keep the sconces perpetually lit. They could be found in every tunnel and chamber of the entire complex.
“We still have a lot of turns to take,” Cody said, his voice just as quiet. “And anybody we run into will know we don’t belong.”
“Do you know the rest of the way?”
Cody nodded. “Pretty sure. After I’ve been somewhere once, I can always find my way back.”
“Then let’s go.”
The route was straightforward enough, if nerve-wracking to navigate. The hallway curved invitingly ahead of them, but Cody only followed it for a few feet before he used the same key to unlock another door. It led to a steep stairwell lit by only a single glowing disk. They followed it down and exited into another hallway.
The minute they emerged, they could hear the low buzz of voices, and they both froze. This corridor ran perpendicular to the upper one, seeming to lead right back under the temple itself. It was much wider and more welcoming than the hallway above, with more lights and a few decorative touches to soften the bleak stone walls. It was lined with closed doors along either side, and the voices were coming from behind some of the nearest ones.
“I was told that this level was where priests would go for retreat and meditation,” Pietro murmured in Cody’s ear. “While they’re at their prayers, it should be safe for us to slip by.”
They glided down the hall, scarcely daring to breathe. Pietro cursed his heavy, sensible boots but he managed to set each foot down with a minimum of noise. Cody made no sound at all.
It seemed like they had traversed the entire width of the temple three times over by the time they finally made it to the end of the hallway. Cody’s invaluable key unlocked that door, too, and they both sagged with relief when they ducked into another shadowy stairwell.
“It was night last time I did this,” Cody said. “And no one was awake singing.”
“And you were drunk, so you weren’t too nervous,” Pietro retorted.
Cody grinned. “I was drunk the night I said I’d do it. Dead sober when I was walking these halls.”
Pietro took a deep breath. “Shall we go on?”
Cody nodded, and down they went again. This time, the door opened onto one huge round space as big as the entire temple, but much less appealing. The ceiling was barely a foot above Pietro’s head, and the supporting pillars were squat and unadorned. The area was crammed with piles of cloth, stacks of furniture, wooden crates, and unidentifiable shapes that loomed menacingly in the cool light of the phosphorescent disks.
“Storage,” Pietro said. “Wouldn’t think anyone would be down here unless he was looking for something specific.”
Cody snorted. “Wouldn’t think he could find it even if he was. Look at this mess!”
“I don’t care about the mess. Where’s the door?”
Again, they had to cross the entire space to find the exit at the other end of the room. Pietro had completely lost track of where they might be in relation to the first door they’d entered a couple of levels up. Cody’s key made a metallic scraping sound, but the door didn’t open.
“Stuck,” Cody grunted, and began gently rocking the key in the lock. Pietro felt his heart seize up again. To have made it this far undetected, only to meet some impassable barrier!
“Can you pick it?”
“No, can you?” Cody retorted, still teasing the key back and forth. “Shouldn’t have to. It worked last time.”
“Maybe someone changed the locks. Maybe that’s how they keep the place secure.”
“Or maybe no one comes down here very often and it’s rusty—ah.”
Pietro felt a rush of excitement as he heard the tumblers falling, and the door made a low groaning protest as Cody swung it open. They cautiously stepped through, entering a stairway that was barely more than a jagged fault in the stone of the mountain. The narrow, unnerving downward spiral was more of a ramp than a series of steps. The disks of light emitted such weak illumination that Pietro couldn’t tell the color of the rock that made up this sloping tunnel. He was immeasurably grateful when, after rummaging in his pocket, Cody produced a flash of light that modulated into a steady glow.
