79: An Unexpected Intruder

Quincy St. Martin

I toss and turn on the big four-poster bed. The fire is roaring in the fireplace facing the bed, but I feel cold and alone in the huge, strange room. I can’t relax.

I can’t turn my brain off. Besides, I hear strange noises, creaking sounds on the ceiling, rattling in the walls, peculiar whispering and moaning sounds from nowhere.

Oh, my God, it’s haunted! This old palace is haunted! I’m not scared. Not really. I’m just…unsettled. Okay, maybe a little bit scared. Just a little bit.

Maybe it’s not alone, quiet time by myself that I need. I need some alone, quiet time with Caspian. Only he can make me feel whole and safe. It’s pathetic, but I can’t sleep without my mate. I parted the heavy damask curtains earlier. The half-moon is bright in the night sky, illuminating the room with its pale light.

I imagine I hear some more creaking sound. On the floor this time.

“Psssttt.”

My heart jumps out of my chest. I swear it does.

“Pssstt. Quincy?”

I jump out of the bed with a shriek. What the heck?

“Penny?” I squeak. “What… How? How did you get in here? What are you doing?”

“Oh, thank Goddess I got the right room,” she says. “I was so worried that I came to someone else’s room. Can you imagine?”

“Penny!” I call out then I glance at the door. It’s still closed. I bet the guards are still outside.

“Oh, ummm, what?” she asks.

I still can’t believe Penny is standing right in my room in her pink silk kimono wrap and a pair of matching pink fuzzy slippers on her feet…unless she’s a ghost.

I lift a finger and poke her cheek with it.

“Owww. what are you doing?” she yelps, slapping my finger away, looking at me like I’ve lost my marbles.

“Just checking if you’re real, Ghost Penny.”

“I’m not a ghost, you silly! I see Caspian’s crazy has rubbed off on you,” replies Ghost Penny. Her ghost is as sassy as her live self is.

“If you’re not a ghost, how did you get in here then?” I challenge Ghost Penny.

“I got here through the tunnel. See?” She points toward the wall.

Wow, a tunnel? The moonlight is very muted, but I can see a dark gaping hole in the wall where a floor-to-ceiling dresser used to be. I see nothing else beyond that.

“Okay then,” I say, still skeptical. “So, what are you doing here?”

“Just roaming around,” she answers, jumping on the bed.

“Riiight. A roaming ghost. Haven't heard that one before.” I take a step away from her.

“Just cut it out, will you? I’m not a ghost!” she insists. “Wow, this bed is ~soft~.”

“You can’t sleep either, huh?” I ask her when I remember that Darius is in the king’s office along with Caspian and the others.

“Pathetic, huh?” she says.

I grin at her. “Yeah, I guess, but I bet they can’t sleep without us, either.”

“Oh, yeah. Darius totally can’t sleep without me. I chase his nightmares away. I’m like his dream catcher or something,” announces Penny, sounding quite proud of her mild superpower.

“Now let’s go explore the tunnel. It’s like we’re explorers or something, right?”

“Yeah, or spies or secret agents,” I say, though I’m eyeing her in her silk kimono and fuzzy pink slippers doubtfully.

Her hair is in a ponytail. A cobweb is twisted in it. She certainly isn’t dressed like an explorer.

“Yeah, spies or secret agents sounds better. I like that. Like ~Charlie’s Angels~, with only two angels though.”

“Or devils. Depends on who you ask,” I say, and she grins mischievously. “Where’s Genesis and Serena?” I ask her.

“Genesis is too scared of spiders. Serena is too classy for things like this. But you. You I know would enjoy this as much as I do.” She is ~so~ right.

“I can’t wait! Let’s go,” I say. “Oh, wait a sec,” I lift a finger up before I run into the closet where my clothes are hanging neatly.

On one of the hangers is the hobo hoodie. If we are to be spies, we’d better do it right. I guess I brought the hoodie with me because I was feeling sentimental. But now I’m glad I did for another reason.

“What ~is~ that?” asks Penny, staring at it, looking aghast.

“Penny, meet hobo hoodie,” I tell her. “If we’re secret agents, we need this. Too bad I only have one.”

“Thank Goddess you only have one! I draw the line at wearing ugly hoodies. I’m saying this with the utmost respect to the hobo hoodie. I don’t want to hurt its feelings, but the truth has to be told,” she says with a straight face.

“So, we have to wear an ugly hoodie to be spies? Your logic escapes me.”

“Smell it,” I tell her.

She brings it to her nose, sniffs it, and frowns. “It smells like something,” she says.

Then she takes another sniff before handing it back to me. “Strange. It smells like something but not really anything.”

“Exactly!” I say. It’s funny that the hoodie I thought smelled so bad when I was a human doesn’t smell bad at all now that I’m a lycan.

It now smells like something but nothing significant. It’s a strange smell that a lycan or a werewolf would just dismiss. Now that Penny just confirmed it, I’m sure everybody in this palace would react the same way.

“Well, come on then, partner,” she says. “Bring your ugly cloak of invisibility.”

“Stop dissing hobo hoodie,” I tell her as I put my sneakers on. “You’ll hurt its feelings.”

She snorts. “I’m so deeply sorry, hobo hoodie,” she says, totally not meaning it. “I’m sorry that you’re ugly.”

It’s chilly, and the air is stale in the tunnel. It’s dark too. It’s so dark that even with our superior eyesight, we need the light from Penny’s phone to help us find our way through the unknown passages.

We go through the twists and turns and steps going up then down. Some part becomes so narrow that it fits only one person through at one time. We stumble upon secret openings to the music room and several unoccupied bedrooms.

We’re careful not to talk too much and keep our eyes and ears open just in case.

Suddenly, Penny stops walking, and I bump straight into her back.

“What the hell, Penn—” I start, but then her hand covers my mouth.

“Shhh,” she says before letting go. “Did you hear that?” she whispers.

I put my ear to the cold, stone wall and hear some muffled voices. It’s probably just a couple of the palace’s workers or guards, but my heart starts beating faster.

Some action. Finally! We’ve been walking along the tunnel far too long not to see any action. There’s only so much non-action for one night a spy can take.

Penny shines the light of her phone around, and I spot a stone slab that looks different from the rest, farther ahead to my left. I point toward it, and Penny nods her head. We both put our ears to the wall again. I hear nothing.

The stone slab is heavy. I doubt a grown human man or even a male werewolf would be able to move it, but together, we probe the stone slab and manage to pry it apart.

I poke my head through the small opening to a dark cavernous hallway. I have no clue which part of the palace we’re in, but I’m pretty sure we’re not supposed to be here.

“I don’t think we’re allowed in this part of the palace,” whispers Penny behind me, confirming my suspicion. “See anything?”

The hallway to my left is long and filled with endless darkness. The pale moonlight steals in through a huge, arched window at the far wall about fifty feet away to my right.

The statues lining the walls are mostly in shadows. I catch a faint, familiar scent lingering in the air.

“Nothing,” I whisper back.

“Where are you going?” whispers Penny when I slip out.

“Stay here,” I tell her. “Just give me five minutes.”

I’m curious about the smell that I caught a moment ago. I hope Penny knows better than to come out and risk leaving her scent in the prohibited hallways.

“Quincy!” she whispers urgently, but I ignore her as I walk into the darkness.

I’m trying to keep close to the wall, hiding behind the looming shadows of the statues.

The thick, luxurious carpet runner that covers the whole hallway helps muffle the sound of my soft footsteps.

My heart beats faster when I spot the tiny movement of a shadow. A shadow of a big person. No, not a shadow of one person. It separates into two then comes together again—two lovers fused together. A soft gasp and a moan seem to echo in my ear.

The pale light falls on them as they stumble forward, and I’m transfixed, unable to move, breathe, or blink. My heart is thundering in my chest.

No, no, no. This is not possible. No!