I found my place along the wall and resumed searching. I moved aside one box stack myself, then hit an immovable crate. Glancing toward Jeremy, I saw him crouched beside a dark square inset in the wall just on the other side of the ladder.
"Is that--?" I whispered, stopping as he heaved on the cover.
The crack of breaking metal. He pulled back the cover and stuck his head inside. I headed toward him.
As I neared the ladder, a foot appeared from the bottom of the chute. I stumbled back. Jeremy spun, seeing the foot appear and waving for me to take cover. I swung the flashlight along the nearest wall, stopping at the first stack tall enough to hide me. I turned off the light and raced forward, my hands out, measuring the distance and praying I was right.
My fingertips touched cardboard just as the main light came on. I swung behind the stack, my pulse racing, waiting for a shout.
When footsteps headed toward the other wall instead, along with a deep mutter of "where did I leave that?," I could breathe again. I hadn't been seen. Now I just had to relax while Botnick found whatever he'd left behind--
A shadow appeared across the floor, moving slowly, and I realized my mistake. I was hidden from the stairs, but not from the other half of the room. I glanced over my shoulder. Behind me was another box, on my other side. If I could wedge between the two, the shadows should hide me. I backed up into the gap. Too narrow. Using my hip and shoulder, I eased the one box over--
It scraped along the concrete, the soft whisper as loud as a shot. I froze. So did the shadow, now halfway into view.
"Hello?" Botnick called.
As he spoke, I eased back into the gap, wiggling and squeezing until I was--
Slap, slap, slap.
I looked down to see my dangling shoes swinging against the box.
ESCAPE HATCH
I GRABBED MY SWINGING SHOES with my free hand. A low chuckle sounded right in front of me, and I slowly lifted my head to see a bearded man standing less than ten feet away.
"Well, hello," Botnick said, his eyes locked on mine. "Come for the meeting? You're too late, but I'm sure I could arrange a private lesson."
He stepped forward. Eyes still on his, I resisted the urge to shrink back and flipped the shoes around so I gripped them just below the heel. Four-inch spikes. Maybe they were good for something after all.
Botnick kept strolling forward, in no rush, savoring the fear in my eyes. I let him have that, widening them and inching back, bringing my shoes up to my chest as if clutching them in fear, getting them higher, ready to--
A blur behind Botnick. The man flew from his feet as Jeremy swung him in a head lock. Botnick gasped for air, clawing at Jeremy's arm. Jeremy stood there, face impassive. When he tightened his grip, Botnick went wild, flailing and gasping. Jeremy relaxed his hold on Botnick's windpipe. Then he cupped his free hand under Botnick's jaw.
"Scream and I'll snap your neck. Understood?" Jeremy's tone was soft and even, like a patient teacher warning a difficult child.
When Botnick didn't respond, he tightened his grip on the man's jaw. Botnick's eyes flew open, wide with pain and something like excitement. He mouthed "Understood." Jeremy relaxed his hold.
"It's
true, then," Botnick said hoarsely before Jeremy could speak. "About the magic."
My gaze met Jeremy's, but he looked as confused as I.
"Your strength," Botnick went on. "That's not...human. You're one of them. It's true about the magic. They've found the key." His eyes gleamed with a fervor bordering on the religious, and I knew that the excitement I'd seen hadn't been a reaction to the pain, but to the cause of it--a show of supernatural strength.
Botnick continued. "You--they--your group. They got my message, didn't they? That's why you're here. To see whether I'm worthy."
Even standing behind Botnick, Jeremy let his face betray nothing. But in the pause that followed, I knew what he was thinking--working through his options, deciding how best to handle this.
"How did you learn about us?" Jeremy asked after a moment.
"Pillow talk." A small laugh from Botnick. "It has been the undoing of many a man. In this case, it was a shared lover. A particularly attractive occult aficionado." His gaze traveled to me. "You know the type. Not terribly skilled, but eager to learn and pleasant to teach. One of your members let a few things slip, presumably to impress her, and she passed them on to me, for the same purpose."
"What did she tell you?"
"That you'd breached the wall. Discovered true magic."