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“I know,” I said, “but I swear on the pyre of my mother that I would do this for you, if that means anything at all.”
“I’m not a murderer and a traitor,” he said between gritted teeth.
“I’m not a murderer either,” I said, which wasn’t strictly true.
He raised an eyebrow at Pearce. “What did you do to him?”
“I can explain. I promise. Just get us out of here—please.”
More pounding came from the door as it trembled on its hinges.
“Graham.” I reached for his hand again, and this time, he didn’t pull away. “Please help us, I beg of you.”
He sucked in a breath, his lips tight, before speaking in a barely audible voice. “Will Pearce be okay?”
“Yes,” I said, “I promise.”
“Fine,” he said, “but you better explainallof this.”
“I will.”
The entire door shook, the chair creaking and groaning under the pressure. Cait and Lachlan gritted their teeth as they pressed their backs against it.
But then it went quiet. The person on the other side seemed to give up.
Cait left the door and crouched by Pearce where he sat slumped on the floor. “We’ll let you go—for now. But keep in mind, we’re the only ones who know how to contact your grandson, so if you want to see him again, tellno oneabout this.” She lifted her blue skirts and backed away, heading for the tapestry on the opposite side of the room.
Pearce watched us from the floor with an almost serene expression on his face, but he was still breathing.
Graham rushed to the corner of the tapestry, lifting it away from the wall and gesturing to us. He ducked behind the fabric and I followed him, Cait and Lachlan close behind.
We passed through a door that blended into the dark paneled wall. The moment we all stepped into the pitch-black corridor between the walls, I pulled out the light from my bag and switched it on.
“What on earth isthat?” Graham asked, scrutinizing the cylinder in my hands.
“Electric torch?” I directed the beam of light down the narrow passage ahead of us. The walls were rough stone, with broken cobwebs hanging from them.
“And that black box with the voice?” asked Graham. “Care to explain that to me?”
“I will later,” I said.
Graham looked exasperated as he ran a hand through his hair. “You have alotto explain. And I’m not at all convinced I’m doing the right thing by helping the three of you.”
“You are,” said Cait confidently.
“Frankly,” said Lachlan, “you came into the room at a really bad time, but please believe me when I say we meant no harm.”
Graham peered angrily at each of us, his gaze lingering on me for longer than the others. “Then stop hiding things from me. Whatever this plan was”—he waved a hand toward the room we’d just escaped—“I should’ve been informed, especially in my own home.” He sighed in resignation, swiping the light from my hands. “Follow me.”
“Where are you taking us?” I asked.
“Somewhere safe,” he said, his voice gruff, “both for you and the rest of the city.”
Cait halted behind me. “That sounds like prison.”
“If I wanted you in prison,” said Graham, “I would’ve let the Enforcers into that room. However, now that you’ve threatened Pearce and announced your presence here, you need to leave this ball, or prison certainlywillbe your destination.”
I didn’t know what he had planned, but for now, I just hoped we could get out of this passageway before the Enforcers found out where we’d gone. As long as Pearce could still speak, he could set them after us.
