Maybe it’s because Greg took the potion to my sister or maybe it’s because I’m finally meeting another Dark Fae, but reg
ardless of the reason, I’m not going to over-think this feeling of contentment that seems to be making itself at home within me.
We round a bend and keep walking.
“There are stairs up ahead,” Edward says softly. “Be careful.”
Luther grumbles something about being old, but not blind, and he starts walking down the stairs.
“Where are we going?”
“This will take us outside of the castle,” Edward tells me. “It opens near the edge of town.”
“How do you know about it?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, it seems like this is a pretty convenient way to escape. How do you know about this random secret passage?”
“My father showed it to me long ago,” Edward says. “He worked in the castle.”
“Did he work for the king?”
“Not exactly.”
So Edward had spent time in the castle before. Interesting. Still, his father must have been someone important to know about this passageway. It’s such an interesting escape route that I would have thought only the royal family would know about it. Or, you know, evil villains, but I don’t think Edward is a villain.
We keep walking in silence until eventually, Luther reaches a door, works his magic, and pushes it open. Moonlight streams into the dark space and Edward and I step out into the light. Unfortunately, regretfully, he removes his hand from my body.
“Where are we going?” I ask.
“This way,” Luther whispers. “I have a place not too far from here.”
“We can’t go back to his home,” I explain to Edward. “Because Wyatt completely destroyed it.”
“And of course, it’ll still be under watch,” Edward adds, understanding. He shakes his head, but doesn’t say anything else. Instead, we follow Luther away from the castle. We walk through a small area filled with trees. It’s not exactly a forest, but there are several hundred yards full of trees and brush, and then we’re back in the town surrounding the castle.
We make our way down the streets, doing our best to blend in, but I’m not sure how well two fairies and a wizard can really blend in together when it comes to being sneaky. All it will take is one wrong person to notice us and then this will all be over. Somehow, we make it down one alley and then another. Luther leads us toward the center of town and soon we’re standing in front of a huge old building. It’s got pillows and a huge staircase that leads up to two large doors. It almost looks like a church, except that there are five stories extending up. I’ve never seen a church that big.
“This is your place?” I ask, looking around.
“No,” he says. “That is my place.” He turns, pointing to a tiny, narrow building across the street from the giant one. Ah, yes. This looks much more like the type of place a wizard would live, but seriously, what’s with wizards and the tiny houses? This one, like Luther’s last home, is very narrow and very discreet. He goes up to the door, raps eight times, and then pulls the door open.
We walk in and there’s...nothing.
It’s just an empty space.
“Uh, Luther?”
“Yes?”
“There’s nothing here,” I point out, feeling stupid. Does he not see it? Really?
“Wait,” he holds up a finger. Then he counts. He walks to the wall, runs his hands over it, and smiles. “Ah, yes, this place has been vacant since my last visit. Well then, very good,” he says. He walks to the center of the room, reaches up, and knocks on the ceiling. So much knocking. This time, a little trapdoor opens and drops down.
“Ladies first,” he gestures to me. I look to Edward for reassurance, perhaps, but he smiles and nods for me to go. Either I’ve escaped from a dungeon only to be kidnapped again or Edward trusts Luther completely, which in turn makes me trust Luther just a little bit more, too.
Reluctantly, I climb the ladder. I’m very aware that Edward seems to be close enough to catch me if I fall. I’m not going to fall. I’m also very happy that I chose to wear trousers on this little adventure, rather than a skirt. I can move faster in pants and besides, if I was in a skirt, I definitely wouldn’t be climbing up first.