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Chapter One Hundred Seventeen

CARMINE

A few turns later, we arrive at the labyrinth door. There’s no knob, lever, or lock.

“So we open it with a spell or what?” Luna asks.

I take a few steps along the same wall as the door and move a stack of boxes, uncovering a panel with a metal ring on one side. Pulling it reveals a compartment with a knob.

“Very common in the last century.” I turn the knob, and the door slides open an inch.

“Okay.” Luna holds up her hands and steps away. “That feels… the vibes are bad.”

“You’ll get used to it.” Turning gets easier, until it’s open about a foot.

A clank comes from inside the wall.

Luna gasps and jumps back. “What was that?”

“That would be a gear falling off its spindle.” I wipe my hands with a handkerchief.

“The mechanism has to be a hundred years old.” The edge of the sliding door is chipped down to fresh grain where the wood stuck to the frame.

“This door hasn’t been used in a while.” I push it, but it won’t move another inch.

“I think it’s wide enough for me. But a big hunk of guy like yourself…”

I slide through into the dark. One step back, and my foot falls on nothing. It’s a stairwell. She’s right. The vibes are absolute shit.

“It’s dark.” She fishes her phone from her little bag and gets the flashlight working.

“It’s fine.” I hold out my hand.

“Except for the vibes.”

“Except for the vibes.”

She puts her phone hand past the door, and I take her wrist. Turning her head toward me, she wedges herself through, pushing the door as she gets halfway in. From inside the wall, there’s the tick-tick-tick of a gear, then a snap.

“What just happened?”

“Broken cable.” I take her phone and pocket it. “You’re adorable pinned half-in half-out. But the door’s on a spring, and it could snap back harder than I’m comfortable with. So do exactly what I tell you.”

“Just this once.”

“First, see if you can get your pretty head out of the jam.”

She wiggles it. I reach over and push the door from the other side. When her head clears the opening, the door springs closed another quarter inch.

“Um. Yikes. That hurts.”

“I have this arm. Relax it. Your other arm.” I hold her wrist and grasp her elbow. “Hold it straight to your side and put your palm flat on your thigh.”

“You don’t even seem nervous that I’m going to get cut in half.”

“I’m not because you’re not. Now, when I say go, push against the door with your whole body. If you get half a millimeter, that’s fine, just keep pushing.”

“Got it. Push.” She cringes, putting everything into making the opening just a little bit bigger.

“Hand on thigh. Ready…”

“Hurry.”

“Set… go!”

With all the strength I have left, I yank her out. She clears the opening before the door slams closed. She’s halfway to landing in my arms when her head snaps back.

For a moment, I go blind with panic. “Luna!”

“ Nnnh .”

She’s clawing at her neck, making more nnnh sounds. The door closed on her scarf, and getting pulled forward tightened the knot. It’s stretched taut around her throat.

“I have it.” But when I try to help, she swats me away to grab ineffectively. “Luna! Stop. Let me.”

She won’t. Her mind has moved into survival mode.

I have no choice but to lay a glamour over her… something I haven’t tried since I met her. Her defenses are so low, it works. Her eyes go wide and her mouth relaxes into an open smile. Her hands fall away. I lean into the scarf, bite the edge, and tear the fabric.

She inhales as if I just saved her from drowning. I hold her in my arms until she catches her breath. She stands and smooths down her dress. The sleeve on the arm that was stuck outside is torn and the skin is scraped, but it’s not too bad.

“You.” She wags her finger at me. “Are forgiven. For the glamour.”

“I am not sorry.”

“Hit me like a ton of bricks.”

I reach into my pocket for her phone, but drop it before it makes the journey to her. My grip is too weak to hold it.

Shit. Between catching bullets, running here, and opening a glamour I should be able to draw half-asleep, I’ve exhausted my power. Her blood is wearing off already.

She picks up the phone, wipes it on her dress, and says, “Okay, ready?”

I lie and say, “Yes.”