Chapter 15

She zigzags through the walls. Left. Right. Another left. Yet another left. We move slowly among the passageways, passing sleeping rooms and bathrooms on either side of us. Together, we weave from one end of the castle to the other and…

Mrs. O’Donnell stops and unleashes her hand from mine. “The end is here,” she whispers. She turns the lantern off and pushes on a part of the wall. A doorway opens. “Go now,” she instructs. “Go.”

I listen, stepping into complete darkness, a strange room within the castle that smells like musk and masculine sweat. I hear two things: the wind outside strumming against the castle’s walls, and my host, Bar Moore, ask in an alerted tone, “Who’s there? I have a gun, and I’m not afraid to use it.”

* * * *

I hear a click in the darkness, knowing he takes the gun’s safety off.

“Don’t move. I’ll kill you if I have to.”