Not that it mattered, because she wasn’t going to be there to attend the ceremony.
She looked at the secret door, hoping Ellen wasn’t waiting on the other side of it. She pushed the electrical outlet as Ellen had shown her to do. She heard a click. The whole front face of the cabinet released, revealing a black, empty corridor.
Fiona stared at it in shock. She grabbed the candle she’d brought into the closet and used a box of matches to light it. She stepped just inside the tunnel, looking around to find out how to open the door from the other side. It was easier than from the closet side; the tunnel side had a latch to pull.
She closed the door and went down the sloping tunnel, away from her room. She had no watch, but she estimated that she had about forty minutes before the alarm would go up that she had escaped. She had to get as far away as possible in that time. Her access tunnel stopped at another, larger one. She went right. The tunnel had a slight curve, as if it made a wide circle around some central core of the warren.
There were other people here. Not enough that she could get lost in the crowd. They looked harried and didn’t make eye contact. She did as they did. At one point, there was a map on a wall. She tried to think where she was in relation to where she’d come into the tunnels. It was set up like spokes and concentric rings. The farther out, the smaller the shafts.
She couldn’t see where any of the tunnels had true exits, but then she wasn’t thinking super clearly. Any minute, Ellen would notice she wasn’t in the room. Then Mr. Edwards and the guards would come for her. She picked a spot on the map that looked as if it might lead into another wheel and spoke system.
Ten minutes later, she entered a new tunnel system. She followed one of the channels to its end at an access tunnel like hers. She’d just turned into it when she heard some commotion from the area where she’d been. She blew out her candle and stood in complete darkness, then began feeling her way along the steep ascent up the tunnel. Her heart was beating so loudly, she feared it was a beacon for those who hunted her.
She paused for a minute to calm her breathing. Up ahead, she noticed there was a slight shimmer of light coming from the end of the shaft. She went in that direction, praying the room or space she stepped into would be empty. She had no idea what she was getting in to. Hopefully, at the very worst, there would be someplace she could hide. Her best plan at that moment was to go from hiding place to hiding place until she could find her way out.
When she got to the door at the end, there was a latch like the one in her access tunnel. She listened to the door for a while, but could hear nothing other than her own breathing. No, that wasn’t true. She could hear the uproar that had been trailing her grow louder. She had no choice. She had to go forward.
She pushed the lever. The door popped open. She peeked around the edge of it, seeing what looked like an ordinary basement space, finished and nicely decorated.
Stepping into the room, she realized the access chute was behind a large bookshelf…near a power plug that doubled as a button release for the lever. She pushed the bookshelf almost all the way closed, keeping it open enough in case she needed to make a quick exit, but closed enough that if someone flashed a light up toward it from the tunnel side, it would appear to be closed.
Fiona stood still and silent, getting her bearings. What a surprise it would be to have some stranger walk up out of one’s basement. Best idea would be to slip out unnoticed.
She crossed the room to crack the door to the main level. She heard voices…two men talking. She closed the door again and looked around for a place to hide. She hoped whoever lived here didn’t have a dog.
Her gaze landed on a phone. She took it out of its docking station and dialed Kelan. It rang once.
“Shiozski here,” a man answered, but it wasn’t Kelan. It was Max. Still, his familiar voice filled her with savage relief. She could barely speak.
“Hello?”
“Max.”
“Fiona! Baby, where are you?”
“I don’t know.”
“Never mind. I’m tracing your call. Stay on the line as long as you can.”
“I got out through the jewelry cabinet in my closet,” she whispered. “I went through tunnels and tunnels. It looks like I’m in the basement of a house, but I can’t be sure.”
“Aw, Fee, it’s so good to hear your voice. Are you hurt?”
“No. Where’s Kelan?”
Silence. “We—we’ve lost contact with him.”
“He was with me last night, then they took him out this morning. I think they drugged him. Oh, God, Max. I don’t know what’s happening here. They say I’m King’s daughter. This place is insane and huge.”
“Yeah, Val told us about Daddy dearest. Some of the guys are in Colorado, probably not far from you. Stay put. They’ll come to you. Got your location. I’m sending it to Val.”
“Max—something’s happening tonight. I don’t know what. Some part of the wedding ceremony. I’m supposed to marry this guy. They call him the War Bringer.”
“Fee, hang tight. The team’s almost there. You aren’t going back. Just stay with me.”
Laughter came over the line. Someone else was on the phone with them. “Oh, yes, she is.”
“Fiona, get out of there,” Max ordered.
Fiona tossed the phone to the sofa. She heard people moving upstairs. The room she was in had small windows mounted high in the walls. She wondered if she could get out in time, then decided she had to try. Before she could move a chair under the window, the bookshelf hiding the entrance to the tunnels opened. Men spilled into the room.