Liam

Minutes crawled by as Reagan and Elisa waited. Despite Liam’s assurances that nobody occupied the surrounding hallways, Reagan surveyed the area in his absence, searching for signs of Dietfried. Each time he heard a voice, he swore it belonged to his godfather. He flinched at every sound.

A ball of dread dropped into the pit of his stomach, and he held his breath. Elisa rested a hand on his shoulder in silent comfort. The redness had disappeared from her face, and she breathed clearer than before, much to Reagan’s relief.

When Liam returned, walking through the wall at the intersection of the neighboring hallways, he wore a worried frown. “I found Dietfried,” he said, standing at eye level with Reagan. “He’s in his office talking to Alan about Vierdorth’s barrier.”

Elisa tightened her grip on Reagan’s holster, and when she touched Reagan’s back, he felt how hard she trembled. He reached back to give her hand a reassuring squeeze, and he was glad she couldn’t see the worry on his own face.

He won’t tell Dietfried about us, of that I’m sure, but I don’t know what Dietfried will do if he doesn’t get the answers he wants…

“There were two other guards inside the office,” Liam said as though he’d read Reagan’s mind. “They were both quite young -- I don’t think they could’ve been involved ten years ago, so hopefully Alan is safe…”

Reagan nodded, hoping for the same as he closed his eyes and tried to calm his racing heartbeat. Liam comes first. After that… Hopefully it won’t be too late to help Alan.

Liam hesitated before adding, “I think I know where Dietfried intercepted Alan.” Liam looked down as he spoke, and a grimace settled deep into the lines of his face. “I found the room where they keep all the amulets. They’re hooked onto pegs on the wall, and each peg is inscribed with a name and…

“There were pegs there for your parents’ amulets and for yours -- mine, I suppose -- but all of them were empty. I found the Meiers’ too. Only Lili’s was missing.”

The look on Liam’s face spoke louder than his words. His lips pulled into a tight line, and the horror of what he’d seen reflected in his eyes. His brows furrowed together, and even as he turned around and started forward, looking back to ensure Reagan and Elisa were following, his hands were balled into tight fists at his side, clutching at the dark fabric of his slacks.

“There were just… So many of them. Close to a hundred, I think,” Liam mumbled. “I don’t know if Alan had enough time to switch his back with Elisa’s but… He had a lot of choices.” Whether he was speaking to Reagan or to himself, it was impossible to tell, but his words dropped like a weight into the pit of Reagan’s stomach.

I knew we weren’t the only ones, Reagan thought, gritting his teeth. But I never imagined how much worse this could be.

He swallowed the thoughts down and focused on his feet, making sure his steps were even and easy for Elisa to follow, all while trying to avoid the uneven boards that looked likely to creak.

Liam led them down one hallway after another, periodically checking that Reagan and Elisa were following. He dipped between the walls, searching every room they passed, and each time he announced how many guards were present, and noted which rooms were well lit despite being unoccupied. Most rooms were empty, but a few had one or two guards.

After a left, two rights, and another left, the trio entered a corridor that ended in two massive doors. “That’s Dietfried’s office,” Liam said. “Those two guards each have a key like Alan described.”

Two men flanked either side of the doors, both of them facing the hallway. They didn’t speak to each other, and both kept their gazes fixed dead ahead. If it wasn’t for their breathing, Reagan could have believed they were statues.

“Beware of the one on the right,” Liam said, his tone as solemn as his face. “He’s the one who killed me.”

A chill went down Reagan’s spine. And the one on the left was in my closet… he realized. Nausea bubbled in his throat, but he couldn’t let himself be sick. He looked down at the guards’ feet as they approached.

Each man had a carabiner attached to the back of his belt, and each carabiner held a single, identical key. The key had only one tooth at the end of it, like the rest of them had been broken off.

Reagan sidled up to the guard on the left. There was only enough space for him to fit between the man’s side and the wall, so Elisa had to move to his side, sticking to Reagan like glue to ensure the cloak covered them both.

He moved slower than a snail over gravel as he crouched and reached for the bottom edge of the cloak while keeping his eyes on the other guard. By his estimation, he hoped they would be in that guard’s blindspot, and he held his breath as he stuck his hand out from beneath the cloak.

With quick, fluid movements, he closed one hand around the key and used the other to unhook the carabiner, sliding them both under the cloak faster than he could blink.

Neither guard moved. Neither turned his way.

Relief washed over Reagan, but he didn’t dare let out the breath he’d been holding. He couldn’t stand the thought of those piercing gray eyes looking through him again.

With the key secured, Reagan stood slowly and took one step back, then another, and once he had put enough space between himself and the guard, he and Elisa turned around and headed back down the hallway. Once alone, Reagan breathed a low sigh of relief and followed Liam down two more hallways to the archives.

Silently, the trio rounded the last corner. The doors to the archives were in sight and unguarded. Not a single shadow branched out from the surrounding hallways. No footsteps indicated a guard en route to their location.

Liam dipped into the archives and confirmed they were empty and well lit as Reagan and Elisa approached.

The oak doors stood a head taller than Reagan, with deep grooves carving out a simple yet clean pattern. Two ornate silver handles sat at waist height. Beneath one, there was a keyhole.

He waited for Liam to check the surrounding hallways, fearing that a guard could be approaching unheard, before lifting the cloak enough to free his hands and the key.

“You’re visible now,” Liam said, hovering nervously above them.

Reagan rested a hand against the wood to steady himself as he inserted the key into the small hole, and he noted the warmth of the door beneath his fingers.

He didn’t have time to dwell on that, however, as he hurried to unlock the door and open it, ushering Elisa in before following. He cast a glance over his shoulder as he disappeared inside.

Nobody. He breathed.

“I’ll keep watch outside,” Liam said, and stayed in the hallway.

“We’ll have to go quickly,” Reagan whispered as he eased the doors shut and shed the invisibility cloak, handing it to Elisa. He hesitated, then locked the door behind them. We’ll need those extra seconds to hide if anyone approaches.

The archives were sparser than Reagan had expected. Where Vierdorth’s library had floor-to-ceiling shelves packed with books, the archives only had about a dozen shelves, and some were no higher than Reagan’s shoulders. The ones on the right side of the room were lined with books and ledgers, the ones on the left held boxes. More boxes were packed high along the walls, but a lot of them looked untouched.

A knot formed in Reagan’s stomach. Something’s off, he thought.

Before Reagan could say anything, Elisa had already moved to the first of a dozen shelves with the cloak draped over one arm. She frowned as she flipped through one of the books, turning the pages faster and faster.

“This book is blank,” she said as Reagan moved closer. She tilted the book toward him and flipped forward and backward through it. Not a single word adorned any of the pages, not a single image, either. “Is it protected by a spell?” she asked, but her voice shook.

Reagan snatched another book off the shelf, then another.

Nothing.

He ripped open one of the boxes behind them.

Empty.

It’s a trap.

“We have to get out of here,” he said, a little too loud. He couldn’t breathe. “This was a mista-”

“Barrier!” Liam yelled as he burst through the wall, eyes wide with panic. “Dietfried knows you’re-”

The spell was barely out of Reagan’s mouth before the room exploded around them.

And Liam vanished into the smoke.