Chapter 293

Even though I would rather deal with Amy’s haunted manor, I knew I had no choice. I had to help Cassidy because helping her would help Victor.

“Okay, I’ll try,” I told her. “But I’m not sure I can find it again. All these passages look the same to me.”

“The more you’re here, the better you can find your way around,” she assured me. “Lycaon’s Passage may not be the only one without electricity. Are you positive you found tombs embedded in the floor of a room?”

I pulled out my phone and showed her a photo I took of the boxes. When I enlarged portions of the floor around them, you could see the chiseled stone grave markers.

“Look,” I said and showed her the photo.

Cassidy snatched my phone from my hand and studied the photo. “Oh, my Goddess. Daisy, you did find The Ancient Tombs. You must send me this photo and any others of this room.”

“I will as soon as I’m outside and have cell service again,” I promised.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude.” Cassidy returned my phone. “Tell me where you stopped to rest while leaning against the wall.”

I closed my eyes and tried to remember every detail. Even though it happened yesterday, it seemed like it all happened much longer ago.

“I remember it was near a spot where four passages met,” I said. “And they weren’t side tunnels. They were longer, and the lights seemed farther apart.”

“There are four junctions like that in the passages,” Cassidy mumbled, more to herself than me.

She walked in a slow circle. “One area is a little darker than the rest. I thought it was an error when the lights were installed. But maybe someone on the council ordered the lights to be installed that way to make it harder to find Lycaon’s Passage.”

She shook her head to clear it. “Come on, Daisy. I think I know where to start looking.”

“Great,” I whispered. “Back to the beast.”

We traversed part of the long passage, and Cassidy pointed out the stone wolf that would open the door to the bathroom.

“Hey, why hasn’t anyone else who uses that bathroom found the passages?” I asked. “The Ivory Columns are in plain sight. If I recognized what they were, other people would, too.”

“That bathroom isn’t used much,” she told me. “It’s in one of the oldest parts of the complex.”

“Like where Victor’s office is?”

Cassidy nodded. “The leaders and the members of the council’s offices are in the same area of the central building.”

“Wouldn’t Lycaon’s Passage and the ancient tombs be in the oldest parts of the complex too?” I asked.

“Yes, the tombs were beneath the original chapel,” Cassidy explained. “But centuries ago, much of the complex was damaged by our enemies. The complex was rebuilt and reinforced, and the chapel was relocated within the complex three times since then.”

I rolled my eyes. “So it could be anywhere?”

“Not anywhere,” she snorted. “I know the most likely places. Daisy, the location of Lycaon’s Passage, and the ancient tombs have been kept secret for a thousand years. It was verbally passed on by leaders and council members. Over time, the exact location was lost.”

I hadn’t noticed, but Cassidy was leading me to a four-way intersection. It looked like the one I had come upon yesterday.

“Which way did you go from here?” she asked.

“I’m not sure,” I said. “I think this is when I started running.”

“You were running?” she asked while giving me side-eye.

I cringed, knowing how stupid my explanation would sound. “I was looking for a way out. I thought if I covered more of the tunnels quickly, I’d find a door to the outside faster.”

Cassidy sighed. “What do you remember about the place where you rested and the wall opened?”

“It was dark. I chose that place to rest because I was staying away from the lights. That's where the spiders like to hang out.”

Cassidy took a deep breath and made the same face as when a student gave her a stupid excuse for not doing their homework. It was the first time that look had been caused by me.

She began moving into the passage directly ahead of us. “Okay, let’s start checking the darker parts of the passages in this area.”

After two hours, we were still checking every dark section of the granite walls with a flashlight, looking for the Seventh set of Ivory Columns.

Cassidy stopped walking and looked at me. “Daisy, how did you get out? You found your way out of the Seventh Passage and back into one of the other six passages, right? Where did you end up?”

“There was a ladder in one corner of the tomb room,” I explained. “I heard the beast whispering, so I climbed up the ladder and found a trapdoor.”

“Cassidy was getting excited. “Where were you when you climbed through the trapdoor?”

“Another passageway that looks like the rest of them,” I said. “I’m sorry, Cassidy, but they all look the same to me.”

But she wouldn’t give up. “How long after that was it before I found you?”

“Not long.” I bit my lip while I tried to think of anything that would help us find Lycaon’s Passage.

“Cassidy, I had to be near the spy’s hallway. I heard voices and followed them. That’s how I found the hallway with the spy grates.”

“But that’s a long way from here,” she said. “How far did you travel in Lycaon’s Passage?”

“Not far,” I insisted. “It was dark, and the room with the tombs wasn’t far from the ramp. I’m sorry I can’t be more helpful. I found it by accident.”

She grimaced. “I’ve got to find the ancient tombs and secure the artifacts. It may already be too late. Are you sure you were near the spy’s hallway when you came through the trapdoor?”

“I had to be,” I replied. “Like I said, after I closed the trapdoor, I hadn’t gone far when I heard the voices and followed them to the spy’s hallway.”

She walked in slow circles again. “The easiest way to find a trapdoor in the floor is with a machine I can borrow from a geologist friend of mine. But I can’t get it today.”

“When you borrow it, let me know,” I said. “I’ll help you if I don’t have classes that day.”

“I’ll let you know,” she said. “Now, come on, and follow me to the exit.”

“Will you show me how to find Victor’s office instead?” I asked. “I’m not going to tell him anything. I just want to see him for a few minutes before I go home.”

Cassidy threw up her hands. “Why not? I can’t do much else today. Come on.”

She escorted me to the bathroom and pressed the stone wolf’s nose to open the passage door into the bathroom.

“Exit the bathroom and take two rights and then a left,” she said. “Victor’s office is the first door on the right.”

“Thanks, Cassidy,” I said. “If I think of anything else that could help you, I’ll let you know.”

She grabbed my arm before I could walk away. “Be careful if you ever come into the passages again. The faction and the artifact thieves may be the same entity. In any case, they won’t hesitate to get rid of you to keep you quiet.”

“I will,” I promised. “You should be careful too.”

She smiled and walked away.

I hurried into the bathroom and closed the door behind me. Then I followed Cassidy’s instructions to find my handsome fiancé’s office.

I needed to hear his voice, touch his hand, and maybe steal a kiss or two.

His outer office door was open, but nobody was in sight. I stepped inside and saw his private office door was ajar a few inches.

So I peeked inside, and my temper flared. That woman with the hot body was with him again. The tight, clingy dress she wore today was yellow. It went well with her light brown hair.

I wanted to shift and fight her when I saw her put a hand on Victor’s shoulder as she leaned over him to point at the pages on his desk.

“You need to sign here,” she said as she pointed at another page. “And here.”

I wasn’t going to run away this time. This woman needed a reminder that Victor was taken. I am his, but he is mine!

I pushed the door open wide. “Hi, sweetheart. I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”