A Murder (Academy of the Ravens Book 4) by Mazzy J. March

Author:Mazzy J. March [March, Mazzy J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Decadent Publishing LLC
Published: 2023-03-14T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Rad

We got the last person—our mate—through the secret exit while the ax bit through the door again and again. Only the age of the door, ancient and nearly petrified, had bought us the time to get this far. I exhaled a breath of relief and, ready to follow the others down the tunnel, worked the hidden cog-controlled device that closed the door.

Except it did not. Unlike anything modern, our ancestors had not had electronics or magic to rely on. Merely incredibly advanced engineering. Which was great when it worked, but since this had not been used or tested for who knew how long, something was wrong. As the hallway door became matchsticks, I forced myself into calm and promised never to rely on anything I had not tested ever again. But that did me no good now. Worse, my negligence and blind trust put the others in our group in danger.

I turned the wheel again, but instead of catching, the cogs were no longer connecting and the handle just spun uselessly. With seconds to make a decision, I stepped back into the room and activated the mechanism on the other side. It had worked to open the passageway, and I had at least some confidence that it would do the same to close it now.

Please let it!

Shouts of triumph indicated that those who wanted to arrest us—or worse—were about to make an entrance as the cumbersome cabinet moved toward the wall, achingly slowly. I faced where our attackers would come in, looking around for some sort of weapon. It would do no good to fend them off if they saw the cabinet moving, but maybe I could distract them long enough for it to close.

It was moving, moving, the gap between it and the rest of the wall narrowing when a small, graceful hand emerged and closed on my forearm. Gwen! “Let go, mate. I have to remain behind.”

“No,” she said, her voice clear over the huffing and slamming of those who hadn’t quite managed to gain entrance yet. “We go together.”

“Your arm will be crushed.”

“You’re right.” She stepped through the gap into the room. “It’s better if I’m in here. And any second the others are going to miss me and be here, too. Come with us.”

There was no decision to be made in this case. No…my mate would stand here and, if it took too long, so would the others. I scooped her into my arms and darted into the opening, holding her ahead of me. My heart pounding, I paused there, still holding Gwen close to me, as two things happened at the same time. The hallway door crashed inward, and the secret exit closed with a soft whuff. I activated the lock designed to keep it closed from this side, hoping it was functional. I’d just have to trust. A soft snap gave me hope it was so.

They couldn’t have heard any of it over the shattering wood and their shouts, but had they seen it? I didn’t think so, but there was no way to know for sure.

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