“Roger found a way through your protection against his beacon spell—well, for the second wave of attackers. He’s got a bunch of harpies about to attack MSI.”
“Then we’ve got about an hour to resolve this.”
“Maybe there’s some other way out, and they wouldn’t be able to stop me.”
I moved around to the other side of the table. The knights had stopped moving after the gargoyles’ firebombs, and I tried walking up to one of them. He didn’t react, so I slipped past him. Owen moved as though to follow me, but he came up short—probably stopped by a magical barrier behind the knights. “Be careful!” he urged softly.
I waved an acknowledgment and hurried toward the edge of the room. It took me a while to find a door. For a moment, I even thought that there might not be a door, that the only way in or out was to use the spell. That gave me a bout of panic because it was very difficult to move me magically, even without someone fighting against us. Fortunately, I found a door in a shadowy area between torches, a heavy wooden one braced with iron.
I could tell that the door was magically warded from the tingle I got when I touched it, but it didn’t seem to have been physically locked, for I was able to pull it open. I had to put my full body weight behind it to get it to budge, and it was hard to get any leverage in my stockinged feet that slipped on the stone floor, but I eventually opened it enough to peer through.
I was surprised to see light coming from above—far above. It was a cold light that was either artificial or moonlight. According to my watch, it was only about four in the afternoon, but I had no idea where in the world I was. If it was moonlight, then we were too far away to get back to MSI in time physically. But I hoped I might find something out here that would give us a clue of something we could do.
The door led into a chamber even rougher than the room I’d left. It was like a chimney; tall, hollow, roughly cylindrical, and open at the top. It looked like there had been steps carved into the wall, leading up to where the light was. I hesitated, unsure what good it would do to go up there. On the one hand, it would be nice to find out where we were, but there was also the risk of something waiting up there for me.
It was a good thing I hadn’t charged ahead because I heard a soft rustling sound from above and thought I saw a hint of motion. Soon I saw someone coming down those steps.
I felt momentarily weak with the relief of a near-miss. If I’d started climbing as soon as I saw the steps, I’d have run s
mack into the newcomer where there was no place to hide, and with no protective railing it would have been very easy for one of us to end up knocked over the edge. I flattened myself into a slight recess in the stone wall just below the bottom section of steps, where I thought I’d be hidden by shadows, unless the person coming down the stairs brought a light and was really curious and perceptive.
For once, I was grateful for the all-black Collegium wardrobe. I was even wearing black tights. The only thing that might stand out was my face, and I pulled my hair forward to cover myself as much as possible. It wasn’t really dark, but it was darker than my skin.
I was actually rather surprised that the figure descending the stairs wasn’t using a light. I’d have been quite uneasy on those uneven, worn steps without being able to see where I was going and with nothing to hold on to. It suggested to me that this person was quite familiar with this staircase. Or had excellent night vision. Or didn’t want anyone to see him coming. Or possibly all of the above.
When the person reached the final turn of the stairs, just before the steps over my head, I finally got a good view and realized that it was a woman. At least, she had long hair, narrow shoulders, and a coat that belted at the waist, creating an hourglass silhouette. At the bottom of the stairs, she paused, and I could hear her breathing heavily—not panting and gasping for breath, but sounding like she’d been through some exertion and perhaps was a little nervous.
She gave a cursory glance around the small chamber, but if she saw me, she showed no sign of it. She then stepped toward the door and stood facing it. She laced her fingers together and stretched her arms out in front of her, like a concert pianist limbering up before a concert. Then she held her hands out and began chanting softly.
I couldn’t hear her exact words, but I recognized a spell when I heard one, and I felt magic building to rather intense levels. I wondered if I should stop her or wait to see what she did. Was she possibly an ally of Mordred’s, come to help him, or was she an enemy, coming to confront him?
I figured she was most likely not an ally, or she wouldn’t have needed to use a spell on the door. That was confirmed when she touched the door and was knocked backward. “Damn!” she muttered, making a sound for the first time.
That voice seemed rather familiar, but I couldn’t place it until she rolled over and pulled herself to her feet, and then I saw her face, lit by the moonlight above. It was Evelyn. She looked very different with her hair loose and without the mildly pleasant expression she usually wore.
I weighed my options. I could remain hidden and hope she went away, or I could confront her and see what she was up to. I figured that my cover was already blown, plus she couldn’t use magic against me, so there wasn’t much of a downside to letting her know I was there, and I might learn something.
“Evelyn!” I said, stepping out of my hiding place.
She looked less surprised than I expected when she saw me. “Oh, so you’re here. I hope not alone.”
“No, not alone. But you don’t seem that surprised.”
“I figured you were a plant of some sort all along. I suppose it takes one to know one.”
“You were undercover, too? For whom?”
“Myself. The Collegium ruined my family, though I’m not sure anyone in the family knew what had really happened. I did the research and learned about the threats, learned what probably happened to my great-grandfather that caused our business to be taken away so that my family lost everything. That’s when I started working to find my way in.”
“But you said you were from one of the minor families.”
“I am, in a sense, through my mother’s side of the family, but I may have amplified that connection somewhat as a way to get in.”
“It must have taken years to reach the position you did.”
“I’m very patient. And then, wouldn’t you know, I ended up working for the guy who had his own delusions of grandeur, which kept me away from the hierarchy. But I learned as much as I could, and today, thanks to all the excitement, I managed to get away from the office in its local site, and I made it here.”
“What were you planning to do?”