Page 179 of Death of a Mortal

With an ear pressed to the closet door, Drayce held up a hand, motioning for us to wait.

“This door leads to the cleaners’ storage room,” I whispered to Drayce. “There’s an entrance to the servants’ corridors in there. The same way we left last time.”

How fortunate we’d entered the castle from a room attached to the servants’ corridors. So far, things were going better than we could have hoped for.

He nodded his understanding, and we waited in silence to ensure the storage room was clear. It was so quiet I could hear my heart hammering like a drum. Adrenaline had taken over entirely, nearly blocking out the fear.

“Sevrin, change of plans. We aren’t going through the main castle. Glamour us as mortal servants so we blend in down there,” Drayce said on barely more than a breath.

The Arcanum leader nodded, and I felt a tingle spread down my whole body, starting at the top of my head. I looked down and had to fight a wretch at seeing myself in the servants’ uniform once more. We all wore the same uniform, but everyone’s heights, builds, faces, and ages varied from old to young, women to young boys, some tall and some short.

“Remember,” the mortal, who had been Drayce two seconds ago, said, still in Drayce’s voice. “Sevrin is the only one to speak if we encounter anyone. Get into the corridor quickly. It will look suspicious if this large of a group is seen exiting a chamber pot closet.”

There were nods all around. Kellan directed one of his two soldiers with us to stay here as another guide point for fleeing mortals.

Drayce waited with his ear to the door for a few more seconds before opening it and stepping into the storage room, quickly followed by the rest of our team.

“I have to get into the main castle to get eyes on the king,” Noxie said.

Before I could mention this to Drayce, the door from the main castle opened beside us, a mortal man stopping in his tracks holding the door wide open.

“Come in quietly and close the door,” came Sevrin’s creepy voice, though now it sounded more like an echo, distorted.

“Go, Noxie! Now!” He immediately took off and swooped through the open door before the man’s eyes glazed over and he obeyed, closingthe door. Chills broke out across my arms when I realized this was Sevrin’s deception magic.

“I’ll report back when I find the king,” Noxie said.

“Stay out of sight, your feathers will attract attention now.”

“You know us,” Sevrin continued to the man. “We are servants just like you and there is nothing suspicious about us being here.”

I noticed a sheen of sweat across Sevrin’s brow as he maintained his deception on the man and his glamour on us.

The man nodded and busied himself at one of the shelves containing cleaning supplies.

The deception magic made me deeply uncomfortable as I wondered again if he’d ever used it on me. If I would have even known.

I exhaled the breath I’d been holding as our group made its way toward the door to the servants’ corridors.

The one I’d thought was Kellan stopped next to the real servant. “If you want to leave this castle for good and escape to freedom, you can go through that chamber closet, and we’ll get you out of here. My men will direct you where to go.”

“Kellan,” a young girl with Drayce’s voice growled. It was actually comical. “We have to move.”

Kellan nodded and our group didn’t wait to see if the man took Kellan’s offer or not.

As I walked through the door into the corridors, I looked back at the man and found him staring after us, confused. I hoped he listened.

“We’re in the corridors,” I told Noxie.

“Stay safe down there.”

“Reminds you of old times, right?”

If crows could laugh, he did. “Sure does.”

The corridor was empty. Now, we waited to hear from Noxie and plan where in the castle we needed to surface, this time disguised as nobles petitioning the king.

Our group huddled together, looking around, clearly on edge.