INES AND I stand still for a fraction of a second, surveying the street in front of the Lions’ Den, before she starts walking purposefully toward the center of the Market. But I still don’t see the bouncer, and considering he stands a good half foot taller than most people here, I’m not convinced I’m missing something.
“Do you know he went this way?” I ask, keeping my voice low.
“No,” she says, but doesn’t look at me.
“So you’re guessing?”
“I’m guessing,” she says, and panic grips me once again.
We emerge into the domed Market and I scan the crowd. But the bouncer’s nowhere to be found. I glance at Ines, and even though her expression is unreadable, I can feel the anxiety radiating off her. If we lose him, that’s it. Game over. We will never find the Lion estate or my dad in time.
I keep scanning the crowd, aware that each moment my eyes aren’t down I risk discovery. Every muscle in my body is tense and I take a forceful breath, willing my posture to relax.
There at the opposite side of the square, the tall guard emerges from a shop. The relief I feel is so intense that my eyes water. I know Ines sees him, too, because she picks up her pace.
The tall bouncer exits the Market through an archway, but instead of heading straight for him, Ines leads us through an alternate archway to the left. The moment we exit, the noise diminishes and so does the light. The couple of torches that illuminate the street cast large patches of shadow. About a hundred feet ahead of us the bouncer turns left and we silence our steps. Then, without warning, something grazes my sleeve.
I whip around, my hand reaching for my knife, only to find Ash, with Aarya just a few steps behind. Even from a quick look I can tell there’s tension between them. I didn’t hear them approach and I have no idea what direction they came from; it gives me an unsettled feeling. We’re all so good at sneaking up on one another that you never know who’s following you.
As we near the turn where the bouncer disappeared, we slow our pace. Ines peeks around the doorway and Ash surveys the street behind us. They nod at each other and we turn into an abandoned apartment, weaving around a broken table and some chairs. At the far door, Ines peers out, looking both ways and pointing to her right. And so we follow the bouncer, transitioning from the torchlit streets to the pitch-black ones, where he must have stashed an oil lamp, because all of a sudden there is a beacon of light ahead of us. Ash finds my hand with his and I’m grateful for the comforting gesture.
The guard turns through another doorway, and before Ines can catch up, the light disappears, casting us into complete darkness. Ash pulls me to a stop and we all stand silently still for a couple of awful seconds.
“I’ll follow,” Ash breathes in a way that suggests we should stay put. He lets go of my hand.
I don’t dare speak, but as his body heat disappears, my anxiety heightens. I reach out, finding Aarya’s coat sleeve, and grip it like an anchor. But she’s having none of it. She grabs my hand and yanks me forward, placing my palm firmly on the cold stone wall, as if to say “Hold this,” and moves away from me. I want to ask Ash what he’s found, but before I work up the nerve, light reappears inside the archway.
Ines cautiously peers around the doorway and Aarya pulls out a knife. But whatever Ines sees must be nonthreatening because she walks through with confidence. Aarya and I follow her into what appears to be an abandoned shoemaker’s shop. There are workbenches littered with shoe-shaping tools and shelves showcasing boot designs that I can only guess are hundreds of years old. Ash stands in the center of the forgotten room holding a lit candle, scanning everything with purpose, and it instantly becomes clear why—there is no exit other than the one we just came through, so unless the bouncer vanished into thin air, he must have used a secret door.
Ines pulls a candle out of her jacket pocket and lights it. It never occurred to me to keep a candle on me, but it’s now obvious that was an oversight—the light from real flame is superior to that from a flashlight and you never have to worry about the batteries failing you at a critical moment.
In the light provided by the two candles I take closer inventory of the edges of the room, searching for signs of a door. On the far wall Aarya inspects tools that hang from iron hooks, Ines moves to the fireplace, and Ash kneels down, running his finger across the ground.
“This place is spotless,” he whispers. “Not a boot print on the ground or dust on a bench.” It hadn’t occurred to me, but now that he mentions it, it makes the room seem off. It has none of the grime that the other stores and apartments did. I’m assuming it’s purposeful, that it keeps other Strategia from being able to track the path to the secret door, like footprints in snow.
“Let’s just hope we can find that door before a Lion pops out of it,” Aarya says, and even though it hadn’t crossed my mind, I’m now very much aware of that threat.
“I’m surprised you don’t already know where the door is,” Ash says under his breath without so much as glancing at her.
If I wasn’t sure something was going on between them before, I am now. I head for one end of the shelves of shoes to inspect it while Ash heads for the other end.
Aarya turns around, eyes wide with offense. “Excusez-moi? I risk my life ten times over to help you two, and this is how you thank me?” she replies, and part of me agrees with her. Why on earth is Ash picking a fight with her right now, of all moments?
But Ash doesn’t let up. “If you’re going to lie, Aarya, at least try something original. I know you’re better than that rote response.”
Even in the dim light I can see her cheeks flush, and I’m fairly certain some of her anger comes from being called unoriginal.
“Fascinating accusation from someone who was working not long ago with Dr. Conner to kill November,” Aarya says, and by the way Ash’s face tenses, I can tell she’s struck a nerve.
He turns away from the shelf to face her. “Where did you go, Aarya? When November and Ines were in the Market, where were you?”
“Exactly where I said I would be,” she says, only her voice has lost a little bit of its oomph.
“No, you most certainly were not,” Ash retorts. “Try again, Aarya. I checked the east side of the Market and you weren’t there.”
As much as I try to ignore them, I can’t. I glance at Ines, who returns my worried expression.
Aarya licks her lips, leaning into the fight. “You always think you know what’s going on, that you’re so good at reading everyone. Then tell me this, if you’re such an expert on my tells, why did November understand me better after two weeks at the Academy than you did after two and a half years?”
“Are you two really having this fight right now?” I ask, anxiety lacing my words. If there was ever a time that we needed solidarity, it’s now.
“Yes,” Ash says with assurance. “We’re about to do the most dangerous thing any of us has ever done, and I want to be sure that walking into the Lion estate with Aarya doesn’t mean we’re walking into a trap.”
Anger flashes in Aarya’s eyes and this time she doesn’t bother to hide it. Ines must see it, too, because before Aarya can open her mouth and spew the vitriol we all know is coming, Ines jumps in.
“Enough,” she says with force. “We most assuredly do not have time for this.” They both open their mouths to respond, but Ines cuts them off. “I don’t care how right you both think you are. All I care about at present is not dying in the labyrinth before we even get to take a shot at Jag.” She gives them a warning look. “Aarya, Ash has every right to question you, because you know as well as all of us that your behavior at times has been suspicious. I’m not saying you need to justify your actions, but you can at least not fan the fire.”
Aarya stares at her, shocked, and so do I.
“And, Ash,” Ines continues, “you know Aarya never played by the rules, so why on earth do you expect her to now? Just because she isn’t straightforward like Layla doesn’t mean you should attack her character.” She pauses and no one even tries to speak. “So go ahead, Ash, ask what you really want to know, and then both of you get over yourselves and get back to work.”
A stunned silence falls over the room.
And after a few moments of considering her offer, Ash says, “Why are you two really here?”
Ines sighs, like she knew this was coming. “I can only answer for myself—”
“Ines, you don’t have to—” Aarya starts, clearly feeling guilty that Ines is revealing something personal because of her.
“I do,” Ines says to Aarya, before turning to me and Ash. “My parents had a high standing in the Fox Family; they did a great deal of advising for the head family and helped them govern. And they hated Jag—they believed he was single-handedly dishonoring the legacy of Strategia, tarnishing the good we had done over the centuries. For years they spoke out against him, trying to get the Foxes to take a stand like the Bears had.” She nods in my direction. “But their warnings were ignored. Then the Lions began targeting talented members of other Families, and my parents fought harder; they had foresight—they argued that the Lions’ actions would eventually spill over onto the children, and onto the Academy.” She takes a breath. “But as you all know, Jag seeks vengeance on those who speak against him, and my family, even with their high standing, were no exception.”
My chest tightens with worry at this all-too-familiar story.
“I was seven years old at the time,” Ines continues, “and they drugged me with Angels’ Dream.” She glances at me for a brief second. “When I woke up in the morning, my parents and older sister had been murdered in their beds. The Lions kept me alive as a reminder to my Family of what happens when you speak out against Jag.”
Angels’ Dream—no wonder she reacted when she saw it. My heart breaks for her. I know too well the pain of losing family members to the Lions, but I cannot imagine the terror she must have gone through that morning.
“My Family didn’t disown me, but they might as well have,” Ines says. “They wanted me to go away so they wouldn’t have to act, claiming there was no evidence the attack came from the Lions. And I wanted to go away, too; I couldn’t stand the sight of them and their cowardly avoidance. But instead of me living with second cousins on the coast like they planned, I left Spain altogether. And a year later I was lucky enough to find another family that suited me better. I haven’t been back since.”
“By another family, she means my family,” Aarya says. “Ines came to live with me and my terrible siblings and my lackluster parents.”
I can see the shock in Ash’s eyes.
Aarya stares at him. “Now are you satisfied, Ashai? Or do you want us to sign a pact in blood?”
Suddenly it all makes sense, Aarya and Ines’s closeness, and the way that Aarya is always trying to protect her, even though Ines is the better fighter.
Ash looks at Ines. “I am truly sorry,” he says.
I never would have suspected that might be the reason Aarya was here, to right a wrong done to Ines, but now I’m looking at her in a new light.
“I’m sorry I doubted you, Aarya,” Ash says, and I can tell he means it.
Aarya looks surprised by Ash’s admission and maybe a little embarrassed that we now know she’s not as unfeeling as she wants everyone to believe. “Well…right. Fine. I mean, you should be. Let’s just get back to searching for this door.”
And we do. Ash and I return to opposite ends of the bookshelf. We spend the next fifteen minutes going over every inch of the wall—twice. I even use the little step stool to look on top of the shelves, but I don’t find anything, not a suspicious crack or a hollow-sounding part of the plaster.
“Nothing,” I say.
“Nothing over here, either,” Aarya replies, and Ines, too, walks away from the fireplace.
“Let’s switch spots,” I suggest. “Maybe fresh eyes will help.”
“If I didn’t find anything over here, you’re not going to, either,” Aarya says, and even though Ash and Ines don’t say it out loud, it’s obvious they are thinking the same thing.
“Then what would you suggest, Aarya?” I say, frustrated by the dead end.
“That the bouncer is freaking magical,” she says, frowning.
I turn in a circle, staring at all the little odds and ends that make this room unlike the other stores and apartments I’ve seen down here. And then it suddenly occurs to me that we missed something.
“You guys,” I say. “There’s no dust in here, right?”
Ash stops what he’s doing. “Right.”
“And the fact that there’s no dust means the Lions altered this space. So now I’m wondering what else might have been altered. For instance, was this furniture originally here, or was it staged by the Lions?” I ask, walking around the room, examining the things in the middle of it that I initially thought were irrelevant.
“Debatable,” Ash says. “Occasionally there are furnished stores or houses in the labyrinth, but that doesn’t mean the Lions didn’t add items to this particular room.”
“Exactly, which means we could have dismissed something as old and discarded that is actually a clue,” I say, and we all go back to searching the room again.
I start at the workbench, examining the shoe-shaping tools, but before I get very far Ash starts talking again. “The step stool,” he says with an excited lilt to his voice that makes us all leave what we’re doing. He picks it up and moves it. “See how the floor underneath is scratched?”
We all look up at the same time, immediately realizing our mistake.
“It’s not that we missed something where we were looking…,” Ash says.
“…it’s that we were looking in the wrong places,” I say, finishing his sentence.
Ash moves the stool back to its original position and stands on it, reaching above his head. “It’s hard to find a door in a wall when it’s actually in the ceiling.” He runs his hands along the wood and stops suddenly at the edge of a crossbeam. He smiles down at us. “Got it.”