Page 74 of Xantera
Your mother comes first, Saskia.
A thud goes through my heart. I’d been steeling myself to try to convince him that finding my mom before trying to break into the north wing would somehow be beneficial to our mission. I hadn’t expected for him to already prioritize her over the key.
Of course I do.His scowl forms in my mind like a shadow, but it only makes my smile stronger.
Okay then,I sigh.Find my mom, find the key, open the Wall.
How hard can it be?
After stepping back out into the hallway, though, my optimism fades away.
Which way?Lucan asks.
To the left, the hallway ends with a wide window and a hard ninety degree corner. To the right, the hallway doesn’t seem to end at all. It just tapers into a hazy black hole with two staircases that jut upward in different directions.
Is it strange that I like the stairs so much?I ask, gravitating toward them.I didn’t realize they could be so pretty.
My hand skates along the banister, the cool, dense wood smooth beneath my palm. It curves up high above my head without any indication of what lies on the next level. And the one above that.And the one above that... I’d never wondered before how many stories the palace has or how many rooms. There are countless doors, the first of which I knock on before I try the handle.
Locked.
But there’s no shortage of doors to try. One after the other, they remind me of the doors of the complexes but fancier, like rows of polished teeth ready to snap at me.
I guess this is as good a path as any,I say,and odds are I get lost anyway.
I got you, baby. Just like the catacombs. You walk, I map. And when you get lost, I’ll guide you back to your room.
I scoff.You make it sound so simple.
‘How hard can it be?’Lucan mimics me.
Has anyone ever told you that you’re insufferable?
He hums in defiance.Wasn’t so insufferable last night, was I?
I don’t even have time to register excitement at the first unlocked door I find. Heat rushes through my cheeks, down my spine, as I open it only to find a mundane linen closet.
Am I ever going to be good enough at this to read your thoughts and see through your eyes?I blurt out distractedly.
His voice drops low.Want to watch me?
No, I stammer. That’s not what I meant, but immediately, I know my response is a lie. And, of course, Lucan knows too. Two more locked doors later, I reply,I meant I’m curious what’s on the other side of the Wall. What your house looks like… what you look like.
My mind keeps trying to stifle,don’t think about him naked, don’t think about him nakedunsuccessfully. But I have no concrete image to work with here—just my vivid imagination.
Trees,he chuckles.Just so many trees. And what was once a lively town on the outskirts of the main city.He pauses. Time is a bitch.
A female dog?I laugh.
No. In thiscontext, more like something that’s difficult.He pauses, as if preparing to broach a tentative subject.Are there a lot of dogs within the Wall?
What?I try another door to no avail.No, not many. The rehab portion of the Healing Center keeps a regulated breed for occupational therapy. Why?
Well, I—
“Oh,” I gasp, almost toppling over when a man throws open his door and runs right smack into me. “I’m sorry.”
The man peers down at me, confusion sitting between his bushy eyebrows. I don’t recognize him as one of the twelve—now eleven—I was Chosen with.
