I hoped that our unorthodox entrance didn’t have us in a labyrinthian maze or trap.
“Remember,” Paul murmured behind me as we walked down a narrow hallway cosplaying as a medieval castle’s dungeon passageway. “We’ve got to keep a low profile. And there’s no telling who has enhanced hearing, so be careful what you say.”
I nodded, my gaze sweeping this way and that as my head filled with dozens of thoughts, all layered on top of each other.
There’s a turn to the right a few feet ahead here.
What’s that way?
An exit?
Oh, two windows ahead!
Are those glamours as well or could we break through them?
Kind of a long haul.
Is this modern lighting, or some kind of enchantment?
Maybe both?Yeah sure.
They hired a witch with up-to-date engineering knowledge but ancient aesthetics. There are stranger things in life.
Another turn.
But this one has a bathroom sign.
Wait, do I smell cigarettes?
Probably someone standing outside an exit and the wind blowing it in.
Good to know.
“You okay?” Paul asked, his voice still low as we approached another large door at the end of the corridor. This one wasn’t metal and didn’t look like it weighed a million pounds.
“Yeah, fine,” I said, and this time it wasn’t a lie. “Just observing.”
On top of the running dialogue in my head about the layout of the place, there were various splashes of color floating around. For whatever reason, even the fresh ones were quite dull, so Ifigured it had to be a side effect of the magical barrier we’d gone through. That made my brain itch, but I tucked it away to research later.
“We don’t have to do this,” Paul murmured. “Itisdangerous, and I could come back with security.”
“They’ll spot your guys in a second, no matter how undercover you look,” I said quickly, which was also true. “And you need me here to see if I can spot anyone without a psychic signature and see who’s lying or not. Isn’t that the whole point of this little excursion?”
“It is, but still, if you want, we can turn around.”
The weight of his words settled in my heart. It wasn’t some huge, flashy sentence, but this was a guy who was doing his best to protect his remaining siblings and find out who had killed two of his family members. And here he was, puttingmysafety above that.
Speaks a lot about his character.What does it say about mine that I’m lying to him?
I’m not lying! I’m just being creative with describing the truth!
Sure.
“No, we’re doing this. Who knows how long we have to get information about this bounty before it vanishes forever? Besides…” I winked at him. It wasn’t the best one I’d ever dealt out, but oh well. “What’s the point of having your own personal psychic if you don’t take her out on the town? Or in this case, into a criminal bazaar?”
I was expecting him to open the door for me. What I wasn’t expecting was for him to reach for the door handle, stepping closer so I was sandwiched between him and said door with only a few scant inches between us.
“Oh, so you’re mine now?”