Chapter 71

Mara's POV

The white door closed behind me without a sound. On this side, it had no handle.

I pressed my palm against it. Stone, not wood. Whatever Caldor had awakened beneath Black Hollow wanted me exactly where I was. The small room held a bench, a glass wall, and a lamp bright enough to make my own reflection look like a stranger who had slept badly. Beyond the glass, Caldor Rusk stood over a table with his wounded hands spread on either side of an old Black Hollow map.

“I counted on a maintenance passage,” I said. “Was it always meant to lead here?”

“A Warden's wife drew the passage two generations ago. I adapted where it ended.”

“She would be furious with your workmanship.”