Down the hall on the left, a warm glow spills from an open door into the hallway. The library is open all hours for the use of any light-night studiers, but luckily, where I need to go is in the opposite direction.
My steps are quiet as I move closer to the teacher’s lounge, which leads to the hidden vault under the academy. I stop outside the mahogany double doors and listen again, both inside the room and down the hallway I stand in.
More silence. I breathe out a sigh of relief.
“And you’re sure we’ll be able to disarm the protections surrounding the relics?” I whisper, and Lore lets out a soft hoot.
“The door is sealed; only those in a position of authority can open it,” she whispers and opens her left talon; a few strands of hair float down onto my palm.
If Declan is truly royalty, then the door should open.
With bated breath, I place the hairs in my palm and cup them against the doorknob as I turn it. A soft click rings out from the lock, and I let out a deep breath, my whole body practically slumping as I push the door open.
“I was afraid it wouldn’t work,” Lore whispers, and I let out a light chuckle.
“Me too.”
I peer inside the expansive room, my heart basically in my throat as I take in the empty sofas and tables. Hurrying inside, I close the door behind me quietly and lean against it.
Lore flutters toward a bookcase on the right of the lounge area, beside the small kitchenette. I notice a few personal possessions—purses, notebooks, ties, shoes—scattered about the place on various chairs or coffee tables. Normally, this would be the perfect time to search for items of blackmail, or just objects for me to curse, but that’s for another day.
I watch Lore flutter around the bookshelf for a few minutes until she sets her sights on one book in particular and goes to grab the top of it with her claws. With a swift beat of her wings, she pulls back, and the book starts to fall.
My heart stops and I leap forward to catch it, but it stops, teetering precariously at the edge of the shelf. “Oh, thank the gods,” I whisper.
But a soft creak erupts from the bookcase, and it swings open, forcing me to jump back. Lore lets out an amused laugh at my wide eyes.
“A secret bookcase door? This is so cool!” I whisper and follow after Lore through the open archway and down a set of metal stairs. A single lantern at the top lights the first few steps, but after that, it is pure darkness.
We continue down the steps, the sound of my feet clacking against the metal filling my ears. The further down we spiral, the darker it gets until I can’t see anything in front of me.
The darkness swims around me, and it laughs, mocking me, taunting me the further down I go until my legs tremble with fear. Every dark thought I’ve ever had doesn’t seem to compare to the chills crawling down my spine. The evil within it creeps into my thoughts, enticing my fear out of me like a long-lost lover.
“This is just a test, Serena, push through it,” Lore whispers, and I try to focus on her words, but the darkness just laughs and pushes her away.
I know it’s a ward placed over the area to discourage us from reaching the relics, but the darkness seems to whisper as it flows around me.
“You are worthless.”
“You don’t belong.”
“You’re weak… pathetic.”
The taunting grows, attacking all of my insecurities and flaws as if it can see into my very soul. I swallow around the tightness in my throat, and the shivers wracking my body intensify. Every word is like a knife, digging in deep, and with every laugh, the knife twists.
“I can’t… I can’t do this.”
I suck in a sharp breath and stumble back up the stairs, away from the darkness. The further I stumble, the easier it is to think... to breathe. As the lantern comes into sight, I let out a choked sigh and fall to the ground.
My hands clutch the metal railings for dear life. A fluttering sound fills the dead silent air before Lore lands on my shoulder, nuzzling her feathery face into my neck.
“It’s okay Mistress. You’re okay,” she whispers.
“We have to try again, Lore. Master Rostova…” I trail off, my body shuddering. “We can’t fail him.”
She pulls away from me and lets out a low hoot. “It’ll be okay, Serena. We’ll think of something else. We can try again another day, but for now, I think it is best we leave before the next patrol comes through.”
A shudder works its way through me, and I almost cry at the prospect of having to go back down the stairs. “Lore, what if I can’t do it again? Master Rostova… I have to call him this evening. He’ll be expecting results!”
She remains silent before replying. “We will think of something.”
We sit in quiet contemplation for who knows how long until I can breathe without the soul-crushing weight on my chest. But the sound of feet on the staircase far below us reaches upwards, causing me to jolt upright. I pull myself to my feet and rush up the final few steps as quietly as possible, then back into the staff lounge where the first rays of dawn as turning the sky pink beyond the large windows.
“What do we do with the door?”
“I’ve got it,” Lore says as she swoops over to slot the book back into place. The bookcase closes with a thankfully hasty swish and clunk.
I sigh and open the door back into the main thoroughfare, and we speed along the corridor until we reach the entrance.
Just as
