Page 82 of A House of Fangs & Deceit

“I think I found something,” I called out.

Vail ambled over and eyed the door, then motioned for me to stand back.

Taking the hint, I moved a few steps away as he stomped down on the door. The wood cracked and buckled immediately, leaving behind only the metal bars. Then he pulled on the frame, but it didn’t budge.

“This was probably the safe hideout for the village,” he said. “We’ve encountered them before. They have steel beams that run across the ceiling, and that’s what the doorframe is attached to. Some of the outposts have managed to melt away the locks and repurpose them, but I didn’t bring anything with me to get through it. We’ll have to come back to search it.”

My nose scrunched up as I stared at the door. Coming back tomorrow wasn’t the end of the world, but patience wasn’t my strong suit, and I wanted to know now. We were already here, and I’d be annoyed if we came all the way back tomorrow only to find out that it was empty.

Once again dropping down to my knees, I skimmed my fingers over the joint where one of the steel bars running across the door was connected to the frame. “I think this one is loose? If you kick it a couple of times, it might snap free.”

I looked up at Vail just as he shook his head. “Still not enough space for me to get through.”

“It will be for me though,” I pointed out.

Emotionless eyes looked at me, scrutinizing my body before catching on my full breasts.

I smirked at him and put my hands flat on my breasts and pushed them down. “They’re squishy, Vail. I’m pretty sure Ican squeeze through, and if I can’t, we’ll come back tomorrow.”

“Fine,” he said flatly, still clearly not believing I’d be able to manage this.

To be honest, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to squeeze through the bars, either. I was far from dainty, but unlike Vail, who was all slabs of hard muscle, I was soft and there was some give to my body.

It might take some wiggling on my part, but there was a decent chance I could get in. Getting out might be more difficult, but I’d deal with that later.

Hopefully, Vail wouldn’t just leave me here. Hmm… maybe thiswasn’ta good idea.

A few stomps and a loud clang later, the bar snapped away, leaving a gap in the door. I knelt down and did my best to peer into the space below, but it was hard to see anything from this angle. But there were no sounds, so I decided to call that good enough.

I maneuvered so that I was sitting across the door with my feet dangling down. Shit, this was really narrow.

“You’ll have to hold my arms and lower me down.” I scooted forward as far as I could until it would only take a tilt of my hips to have me sliding down and held my arms straight up.

Vail let out a long sigh and then moved so that he was standing directly in front of me with his legs in a wide stance across the door.

If I tilted my head up, I’d basically be staring directly at his crotch.

I did not tilt my head up.

Strong hands grasped my wrists and once I was sure he had a secure grip, I let myself slide forward and wiggled my hips through the gap. Then I sucked in my stomach as much as I could while he lowered me through.

My breasts did indeed get a little stuck, and it was uncomfortable for a few seconds, but then I was past the bars.

Vail held on for a few more seconds before letting me drop to the ground.

“Yes!” I called out in victory while I brushed off my clothes. It wasn’t the most pleasant experience, but I made it through and proved Vail wrong, so… worth it.

“We don’t have all day,” Vail said gruffly. “Take a look around and see if you can find anything. Then we’ll have to get you out of there and head back.”

“You can just admit I was right about being able to fit through, you know?”

He didn’t bother answering, but I suspected he was wearing an annoyed expression and was probably debating the merits of leaving me here for the night. I didn’t think he actually would leave me entirely, but I wouldn’t put it past him to post up in one of the trees for the night and keep watch while I bunkered down here, cold and terrified.

I moved further into the underground bunker and then stopped until my eyes adjusted to the dark.

It was a big, open space. I was a little surprised that the ground above hadn’t caved in, but there were steel beams running across the ceiling. Maybe the townsfolk had strengthened them with magic.

Back then, the Fae had been somewhat willing to share their magic with the humans to help keep them safe. Roth might be interested in visiting this place in the future to figure out how they’d managed to build this underground area. I walked around, scanning the space, trying to find anything of interest.

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