Page 35

S amantha followed the stairs leading deeper into the subterranean depths beneath the hospital.

Uneven blocks of stone stacked upon one another served as walls.

It looked like they belonged to a medieval castle rather than to a modern city building.

She slid her palm over their icy surfaces as she descended farther, her feet finding solid support against the smoothed-out steps.

“What do you suppose we’ll find?” Adrian asked at her back.

“I’ve no idea. Your guess is as good as mine.”

“This would make an excellent location for any number of horrid occurrences to take place.”

“I’m not so sure.” She kept her steps careful and even. “Wouldn’t the door we came through have been locked to keep people out if that were the case? Also, I don’t envision a patient accompanying a surgeon down here willingly. Surely they would have protested and raised the alarm.”

“Unless this case involves more scoundrels than we realize. If a larger group were working together, I’m sure they could have managed somehow. And a subterranean location nobody visits, with easy access to medical equipment, would make an excellent spot for surgical experimentation.”

“Maybe.” She didn’t disagree. This was the theory that had brought them here in the first place. She just worried they were leading themselves astray by investigating down here.

The stairwell swept to the left before opening into what looked like a tunnel. Samantha stepped off the bottom step and felt packed dirt beneath her feet. She started forward, the glow from her candle lighting up the space that lay roughly two feet ahead.

Adrian grunted and muttered a curse behind her. “Ceiling’s too low. I think I walked into a support beam.”

Samantha turned and held up the candle, spreading its glow across a low archway they’d just passed through. “Sorry. Would you like to go first?”

He nodded and took the candle from her before stepping ahead. She fell in behind him and realized how diminished the light was now when he blocked it. No wonder he’d hit his head.

“I think we may have the answer to your question,” he said a few moments later before he stopped walking.

“What do you mean?”

“You were questioning if a killer would operate in a place that could be accessed by anyone.”

Stepping aside as much as he was able, Adrian revealed the heavy iron gate blocking their path. It had a large square lock welded into it, so ancient in appearance she worried her hairpins would be no match in this instance.

“We should tell Kendrick about this,” she said.

“A conversation I’m very much looking forward to,” he murmured.

“You could just tell him you made some inquiries and that one of your many informants told you about the stairwell. There’s no need for Kendrick to know we were here.”

“You’re right.” Adrian bent to give her a kiss, then glanced toward the lock. “Any chance you can breach it?”

“I’ll give it a try but the size and age of it makes me skeptical.” She crouched in front of the gate as best as she could in the narrow space. “Hold the light steady so I can see.”

He did as she asked while she worked her pins.

Metal scraped against metal, the sound jarring in the otherwise silent space. It took a few minutes but then a click sounded. Samantha sighed and pushed the gate open, then straightened to her full height. “Let’s go.”

She followed him to the opposite side, staying near his larger frame as darkness closed in behind her. The feel of one blade strapped against her right thigh and the knowledge that others were hidden upon her person settled her pulse to a steady beat.

Whatever they might encounter down here, she’d be prepared.

“I doubt we’re still under St. George’s,” Adrian muttered after a while. “We’ve been walking too long and the candle is half burned. We’ll need to retrace our steps soon if we want to light our path.”

“Just a little bit farther,” she said. “I refuse to believe this tunnel has no purpose.”

“Maybe it did a long time ago and has since been abandoned. That would explain the locked gate.”

“So would any need to keep prying eyes away from what may be hidden down here.”

“You’re not wrong but it’s also possible that we’re on a false trail. Let’s not forget, we came here looking for a place where a surgeon might have conducted experiments on people. I doubt he’d have done so down here.”

He made an excellent point yet she could not shake the feeling that something wasn’t right about this place. Then again…

“Maybe I’m letting the idea of secret tunnels linked to nefarious deeds get the better of me. You’re probably right and I really don’t want to get stranded without any light so w—”

“Hold on.”

“What is it?”

He didn’t reply but kept on moving, leading her into a large, round space. Stepping farther inside, he swept the candle to one side then to the other in an effort to get a sense of the place.

It looked like a large stone chamber, so ancient in appearance Samantha wondered if it might date back all the way to the Romans.

“Wait,” she said when the light landed on an uneven shape for a moment before once again moving away. “Over there to your right. What is that?”

Adrian sent the light back in the direction she requested and walked toward the object she’d spotted. It appeared to be a massive candelabra filled with partially burnt candles. He started to light them.

“You realize this wouldn’t be here if this space were not being used,” she said.

“The question now, I suppose, is what it’s used for.” The room lit up a little bit more with each additional flame he provided. “Can you spot any clues?”

She scanned the chamber and took note of what appeared to be disturbances on the dirt floor.

“I need more light if I’m to study this in greater detail,” she said while Adrian crossed to the opposite side of the room. “It does appear as though several people may have been here recently. It would make an excellent place for clandestine meetings.”

Additional light swept toward her from the left, and she saw that Adrian had found another candelabra. A quick assessment of the room revealed two more. Once lit, the room would be fairly bright.

“Have you seen the carvings on the wall?” Adrian asked.

Samantha had noted some sort of design, but had yet to discern what it depicted. “I’ll take a closer look.”

“There’s also another tunnel on this side, providing access from a different location.

” He finished lighting the second candelabra and crossed to where she stood examining what appeared to be Latin words, meticulously carved into the stone wall.

“Into whatever houses I enter, I will go into them for the benefit of the sick.”

“It’s clearly part of an oath a physician might speak.”

She turned to him with interest. “You think there’s a clandestine group within St. George’s that’s in the habit of conducting secret meetings down here?”

“Possibly.” He stepped back, his hands thrust into his pockets as he regarded the text. “It may not be connected to the victims, though.”

“You’re right. This could be an unrelated find.”

Adrian rocked back on his heels. “I just—”

“Shush.” Samantha’s hand caught hold of his arm in response to a distant tapping. She glanced toward the other tunnel and listened as the sound came again. Louder this time. “I think someone’s coming.”

“We should try to find out who it is without scaring them off.” He crossed to one of the candelabras and began to snuff out the candles. Samantha did the same with the other candelabra, until the chamber had plunged back into absolute darkness.

Even though she knew Adrian stood roughly five yards away, she had no sense of his presence. All was still. Completely silent. Save for the taps that could now be discerned as footsteps.

She held her breath and pressed her back to the wall.

The cool stone offered solid support as she waited for whoever it was to make an appearance.

Her hand brushed the hilt of the dagger attached to her thigh.

Stomach tight with the possibility of an oncoming fight, she wrapped her fingers around the handle and unsheathed the blade.

Light flickered from inside the tunnel, increasing in brightness as it drew nearer. Samantha squinted toward it, confident that she remained hidden within the persisting darkness that flooded the chamber.

A figure came into view. Tall, it would seem, on account of the slightly hunched posture that made it look like the person tried to avoid hitting their head.

They stepped into the chamber and paused as if to get their bearings.

Samantha stared as the light from the lantern they’d brought illuminated not only the space around them, but also their face.

Whoever this man was, it wasn’t one she’d seen before. Whether that was a good thing or not, she wasn’t entirely sure.

A movement behind him drew her attention back to Adrian who’d stepped between the man and the tunnel to block his retreat. Samantha peeled away from the wall and approached. She would make her presence known now and get some answers so they could resolve this matter.

The man froze, his eyes wide and lips slightly parted, the moment he saw her. And then he turned, spinning on his heels so fast the oil lamp swung sideways and sent light dancing. But rather than the open escape he’d expected, he found Adrian.

He gasped, then did the one thing Samantha hadn’t expected and sent the lantern flying.

It would have crashed into Adrian’s head had he not dodged.

Instead, it connected with his shoulder before bouncing off and smashing against the ground.

Glass exploded and the light went out. A grunt sounded and she leapt toward it.

“Strike a flint and light the bloody candle will you?” Adrian’s voice was rough. It sounded like he was gritting his teeth.