A Dawn of Strength (A Shade of Vampire #14)(26)

“Let’s try to sleep, Viv,” I said, taking advantage of the pause in the conversation.

I turned onto my side, facing her, and watched as she mirrored my action.

“Honestly,” she said, “I didn’t think I’d be able to sleep when I was downstairs sitting in that chair. But now I’m lying down…” She yawned again. “Maybe it’s this pregnancy making me feel exhausted.”

“Then rest,” I whispered.

She reached for my hand and held it. As she closed her eyes, an expression of worry settled in on her face. I knew she was now imagining what I was trying not to imagine. I closed my own eyes and kept as still and quiet as possible until, finally, I was confident that sleep had claimed her.

Her grip on my hand had slackened, so it wasn’t difficult to detach myself from her. As I slowly sat up in bed and cast my eyes toward the closed door, I could only feel thankful that Vivienne was no longer a vampire. Her hearing wasn’t nearly as sharp. If I was careful enough, I might just be able to escape without disturbing her.

Opening the door as quietly as I could, I stepped out into the corridor and pulled it shut behind me. I knew there was no point trying to convince Kyle, or whomever else might be guarding the exit now, to let me step outside. No, I had to find another way out.

I hurried toward the staircase and climbed up to the next floor. I kept climbing level after level. Along the way, fortunately, I only bumped into three humans who were only vague acquaintances of mine. Finally, the stairs stopped and I could climb no higher.

I was relieved to see that this top level was less populated than the lower ones. Many of the doors were wide open. I stopped outside the last open door to my left at the end of the hallway. I stepped inside the dark, empty room and looked around.

As children, Ben and I sometimes used to sneak into the Black Heights with our friends to play hide and seek. I was always the last to be found in those games, and nobody understood why. I’d never revealed my secret to them—the secret that used to lie within the very walls I was standing between now. Yet it seemed that my hiding place had been removed. Where there used to be an old narrow fireplace was now solid wall. The whole room looked so different than how I remembered it.

Unless this isn’t the same room. Perhaps I’m on the wrong side of the corridor…

I hurried back out of the room to see the door opposite me was closed. I pressed my ear against the wood, and, on hearing no signs of anyone being in there, gripped the handle and pushed it open.

This room was almost identical to the previous room. There was no fireplace. However, there was a wide cabinet fixed into the furthest wall. I rushed over to it and crouched down. The hinges groaned as I pulled open the doors. Dust billowed into the air and it took all I had to fight off a coughing fit. The cabinet was stuffed with blankets. I pulled them out onto the floor, revealing a spacious area—large enough for me to crawl into—and charcoal-black stone walls. I climbed inside and, tucking my legs beneath me, looked directly upward. There was a narrow hole where the ceiling should have been, and a thin metal ladder leading upward.

My suspicion had been correct—the fireplace had been removed, and the cupboard built in its place. However, from the darkness of the tunnel, it was clear someone had also blocked off the opening at the top of the chimney—it used to open up at the top of a cliff. Still, gripping hold of the rusty ladder, I began to climb.

I kept going long after my hands became sore from the metal. I didn’t stop until the top of my head brushed against a ceiling. It was pitch black now. Looking down, I could only vaguely make out the light emanating into the room downstairs from the corridor outside. Holding onto the ladder with one hand, I reached up to push my palm against the ceiling with the other. To my surprise, it was slightly crumbly. I’d expected to feel the same stone that constituted the walls and all the other ceilings in this place. Whoever had sealed the hole had done it with clay. I wondered just how deep the layer was.

My brain whirring, I descended the ladder and looked around the room. My eyes fell on the only portable metal object in the room—a lantern hanging from a hook on the door. I pulled it down and examined its base. There was a sharp ridge running around the bottom of it. I had no idea whether this would do the job, but there was only one way to find out. I climbed back up the ladder with it. Reaching the top, I brushed back the hair from my face with one hand and tipped the lantern upside down. And then I began to scrape.

Slowly but surely, the clay crumbled beneath the ridge. Dirt fell onto my face if I looked up, so I kept my eyes cast downward as I worked. I wasn’t sure how long it took me to dig deep enough into the dirt before the small ceiling gave way, but eventually it happened. The chilly night air touched my face as I stared up at the dark sky.

Before I squeezed myself through the opening, I climbed down the ladder one last time and crawled into the room. I walked to the door and made sure it was closed before picking up the blankets. Squeezing back into the cupboard, I brought the blankets in with me and arranged them as neatly as I could before pulling the closet doors shut and standing up to climb the ladder again. I hoped that Vivienne would remain sleeping for at least a few hours. I reached the top of the chute and hauled myself through it. I only narrowly avoided getting stuck. I wasn’t as small as I’d been the last time I’d climbed up here, and if my hips had been even slightly thicker, I was sure I wouldn’t have made it through.