Chapter 10: Race against the clock

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"Are you gonna be okay?" I slowly backed away, looking at Leon, someone unable to stop myself from searching his icy gaze. How long would it take for them to go crimson if I didn't get them these pills?

"I got this."

I nodded, "I'll be back soon. I'll call it in when I'm on my way back, listen for your communicator."

I looked to Ashley, who was chewing on her lip, "Be careful." She murmured, clearly worried for what splitting up might mean.

"I always am." And with that I fully turned and crossed the space back toward to door Luis was inching toward.

We carefully made our way back into the welcome chamber, "Could you have dropped them while dodging the catapults?" I asked as I followed Luis down the small set of steps.

"We're not going that way."

"What?"

He rounded the corner at the bottom of the stairs, the light from the chandelier bathing him in a watery glow as he moved past the table toward the far wall.

Pale columns accented the corners of the room, with the left side displaying a platinum antique sword while the other side housed a large painting of a royal woman.

Before I could question him further, Luis gripped the edge of the thick framed painting and pulled it free. A small hiss of air came as the frame dislodged from the wall and revealed
a carved arch walkways in the wall.

The look of shock on my face prompted him to speak, "What you've never seen an secret passage way?" Of course any normal person would find this ridiculous, but with the amount of shit I get up to of course I'd seen secret passages.

I wiped the look of surprise from my face, "I have, but normally I stumble upon them by accident instead of being led to one by a shady individual."

"Ouch," he said, hand going over this chest like my words had actually struck him.

I frowned and nodded toward the opening, "after you."

He shrugged before reaching into his pocket and producing a silver flip lighter. One flick of his thumb had the flame igniting, casting a bubble of light into the passage as he began moving.

I glanced down at the pistol on my hip as I grabbed my flashlight and followed.

"Close it behind you, I don't want to let everyone in on my tricks," he whispered, voice echoing off the crude stone walls.

Once the painting clicked back into place, the light from the room fully vanished, leaving us only the lighter and my torch to guide us.

"And how exactly do you know about these?" I asked as we began slowly pushing forward.

"Old servants tunnels. They run all throughout the castle. Most of them were blocked or caved in but a few still remain." The flame highlighted the lines of his face and the shadows of his gaze.

"That didn't answer my question."

He glanced back at me, "my grandfather hunted on these lands his whole life. There wasn't a trail or passage for miles that he didn't know about."

"Your grandfather?" For a few long seconds only the whisper of our feet on stone sounded, and I didn't think Luis would answer until he sighed.

"I grew up here. In this village."

"You? I thought you were a researcher?"

"What, you can't be a small villager and a researcher?" He said, cocking a brow.

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