Page 44 of Under Locke & Key

They gather piece by piece, splitting into pairs and small groups as needed and it’s amazing to watch something that’s only lived in my head come to life beneath me.

“Rachel, can you tilt camera two down a couple of inches? I’m not getting the full space where Gabrielle is searching through the trunk.

I can only see the top of her head,” Bryce’s voice comes through the walkie talkie portion of the app and I tilt the camera down until his voice chirps, “perfect” through the phone speaker.

Two flames have been snuffed before they unlock their first chest, filled with tools and a crude map of the room, including passages that have been sealed shut.

We included a false passage to up the stakes and try to see how quickly people would move on or if they’d focus all their energy on one spot only.

“The clue says to use all our senses to try and determine which trail will lead us out and which false path will lead to our doom. Sight hasn’t helped so far. Everything feels the same when we touch it and I can’t see them wanting us to lick anything in the room,” Logan says and the group laughs.

They’re on the right track.

“How would we tell if we weren’t in a manufactured room? It would either be by scent, if the air is stagnant or if there’s something else . . .” Gabrielle jumps in and I want to whoop I’m so excited.

“Air!” Farren exclaims. “They can’t really do scent in here but you guys felt the fans earlier. It stands to reason that the true path will have some kind of breeze that will mark it as the one that leads outside.”

The group is surrounded by their clues and the tools they’ve amassed over the last half an hour, crouched near the ground and trying to feel for a slight breeze to determine if there is a way out. It’s Sebastian that calls them over to the correct path.

They move carefully through the darkened passage into the second part of the room, closed off from the treasure area. There they find the caged-in opening to the outside with multiple locks, including a letter one that is the final barrier between them and freedom.

That lock is the secret word they have to submit—amend.

Unfortunately they get stuck at the physical puzzle that contains the word hidden within—a magnetic maze that signifies the journey they’ve gone through to escape. They’re doing it correctly but it seems as if the magnet we chose just isn’t strong enough.

More torches dim and they are down to their last one when the magnet finds its home and the scroll containing the final clue clatters to the ground.

Logan’s whoop of excitement is contagious and the rest of the group have triumphant smiles on their faces as they twist the letters and unlock the way out. I rush down to the room but Bryce gets there first and Logan gives him a big hug.

“Two minutes to spare!” I say, a little breathless and very pleased despite the minor mishap. “Great job, everyone!”

ángel walks over to me, bumps his shoulder against mine as we watch everyone else chatting about the more challenging parts and the validation they felt as each solution presented itself.

“You did it, kiddo.” His praise is quiet, just for us, but the warmth that spreads through me at those words makes all these months of hard work and late nights, and all the doubt around what I did to get here worth it.

“I can’t believe we pulled it off. It felt so touch-and-go for a while. This summer has been a lot and although I’d never say so to Bryce, I’ve had my moments of worry that it won’t work.”

Not just the escape rooms, but all of it. The move to Dulaney, the weeks of avoiding my feelings for Bryce, the final push through my defenses. This has felt like months of waiting for the other shoe to drop and it hasn’t yet. I’m terrified to hope that it might never drop.

“What happens now?” ángel voices my fears aloud.

“I’m not entirely sure. Technically my work is done for now. Yes, there will be more rooms but it’ll be a while until he’s made enough money back to sink into development again.”

ángel scoffs beside me and I turn away from the group to stare up at him. His lip curls up in a wry smile. “I didn’t mean about work. I mean about him. This is different, I can tell.”

“I want this. More than I did with Riley and you and I both know poorly how that ended. We’ve been taking it a day at a time but I can see it, you know.” My breath rushes out of me, relief after it stuck in my lungs and ached at the thought of me and Bryce and the potential for the future.

“Oh yeah?” ángel prompts, not pushing too hard, he knows me well enough now to tease things out of me. Even though I know he’s doing it, I don’t care. I need to tell someone. It should probably be Bryce but I’m too anxious about it.

“He makes me feel so much. Yes, there’s insane attraction and there was the slight excitement of it being something we couldn’t or rather wouldn’t indulge in but there’s more to it.

Bryce listens. He lets me ramble and he watches me when he thinks I’m not looking, as if he’s worried that if I notice, I’ll see everything he keeps hidden.

I’ve never felt safer, or more taken care of.

You know how hard I push, how harsh I can be on myself.

Bryce is constantly reminding me to think of myself as a person.

I never thought that safety would be the thing that did it?—”

I shake my head, drowning in memories of chasing the butterflies and heat in the city, the same ones I’ve felt since meeting Bryce, and then being disappointed when things fizzled in the past. “Somehow he snuck right past every single defense, just by being a soft place to land. I’ve never had that with someone I was seeing.

I always felt like I had to be on my best behavior and anything less than perfect would mean loneliness. ”

“So, what I’m hearing is, I’m going to have to get real acquainted with Dulaney and Bryce’s people because you’re going to be one of them,” he teases.

“Don’t say it like it’s a chore. I can see the budding bromance between you and Logan. No doubt you bonded over how both of you love to meddle.”

ángel laughs and does nothing to dispel the accusation. The group is winding down, the outcome promising, and hunger overtaking the high of escaping.

“Dinner at the Dawsons?” Logan asks.

“I’ll give my mom a call to let her know we’re on our way.” Bryce presses his phone to his ear and exits the room, my eyes glued to him the entire time.

“It’s okay to love him. He’s a good one.” ángel drops it like a bomb before leaving to join the others, filing out of the room and taking all the sound with them.

I’m rooted to the spot, the words I’ve been too afraid to acknowledge or voice aloud thrumming in my mind like a tattoo.

It buzzes in my chest like the bass from the speakers earlier but the effects are off and the room is lit like normal.

It’s just me having a mini panic at the prospect of my heart no longer being all mine.

“You coming?” Bryce asks from the doorway and I can only wonder how long he’s been there, watching me. Is any of the turmoil visible on my face?

“Yeah, of course. Sorry. I just got a little caught up.” Clearing my throat of all the emotion I’m terrified will choke me, I thread my fingers between his, taking his outstretched hand.

Lights and electronics flicker off behind us as we go, shutting down and closing up, until we’re the last ones there. Our friends have already disappeared back to the Dawsons’ and are no doubt wreaking havoc over there now.

“You sure you’re doing okay? You’ve gone really quiet,” Bryce asks as we walk to his car.

His hand swallows mine, his steps shorter to keep up with me, and the summer breeze swirls the scent of him around me.

My stomach aches, my chest constricting.

This is so normal. I could see a thousand more walks just like this.

Hand-in-hand, in step, and as close as our bodies will allow while still being able to move like normal.

“I just can’t believe it’s finally here. It’s surreal. I can’t fathom?—”

How you’ve snuck through my walls and rooted yourself so deeply when I hardly noticed the difference.

“I couldn’t have done it without you.” Bryce lifts my hand to his lips and the light touch sets me on fire. Every nerve ending sings at the contact and I know it’s over for me.

I’m in love with Bryce Locke Dawson and it happened so quietly I didn’t see it until it was far too late.

* * *

Bryce is swept up by his dad as soon as we get there, with barely enough time to dump our belongings in the kitchen before Frank approaches, eager to hear how his voice acting went over and the group indulges him.

He really did a fantastic job and it’s so sweet that Bryce is able to get his family involved.

I hang back in the kitchen, scrolling through my phone in an attempt to decompress, and stuff those traitorous feelings back inside my chest.

In my email inbox is a name I never thought I’d see again.

Andrew.

My breath catches in my chest. The thrumming of blood pumping through my body overwhelms my hearing until all I can focus on is the whoosh of my breath and the throbbing of my pulse. Should I delete it? Without opening it?

Given how visceral my reaction is to just seeing his name, I can’t imagine I’ll react any better to the actual message. I never realized how deeply that work environment affected me until now, faced with it again.

Still, curiosity outweighs caution and I open it, despite my better judgment.

Rachel,

I’d like to apologize for how things went down earlier this year.

Had I realized how much the situation meant to you and how much it affected your desire to stay with Lakin-Cole, I would have reacted much differently.

In the past few months it has been more than apparent how much we need and have missed you and your work.