Princess in Peril. Rachelle McCalla

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      “Back into the catacombs. From there we can get just about anywhere.”

      “There’s an entrance to the catacombs under the Embassy? Why didn’t we come up this way earlier?”

      Levi cleared his throat.

      Was he buying time before answering? Isabelle wasn’t sure, but she didn’t like it. Why had he risked their flight across the street if they could have come up through the Embassy?

      When Levi finally spoke, his words were less than encouraging. “There’s not really an entrance to the catacombs under the Embassy. According to the hand-drawn maps I studied, there used to be one, but it was walled over to prevent the catacombs from being accidentally discovered by the Americans.” He reached the back corner of the dungeon and stopped, his light shining against the formidable bricks of the cold stone wall.

      Isabelle shuddered, acutely aware of the fix they’d gotten themselves into. The lines of mortar that ran between the stones were dark gray throughout most of the subterranean room, but in the space where Levi shined his light, the mortar looked paler. Fresher. “So what are we supposed to do? Dig our way out?”

      “Hold this.” Levi handed her the flashlight. “Stand back.”

      Isabelle obeyed, hoping that whatever Levi was going to do wouldn’t take long. What if the soldiers looked behind the bushes and realized they’d come back in through the window? They’d catch up to them quickly if that was the case.

      Levi ran his hands along the seams between the large stone bricks. A few grains of mortar crumbled out from between the seams, and he pulled a tool from his pocket, chiseling away at a seam between the stones. Mortar fell like dust. Several hacking motions later, Levi stood back, a satisfied look on his face.

      “I need something big and heavy,” he murmured, looking around.

      “What for?”

      “To use as a battering ram.”

      “You can’t possibly expect to force your way through a stone wall.”

      “It’s a false wall,” Levi corrected her. “I could probably kick it in, but I don’t want to risk an injury.”

      While he spoke, Isabelle looked around them at the deep underground prison. Like many of the buildings in the millennia-old city, the Embassy had been rebuilt and refurbished many times over the centuries, and discarded building materials cluttered the room. “Here’s a beam,” she offered, pointing with the flashlight Levi had handed her.

      “Good work.” Levi snatched it up, hefted the weight of it in his hands and balanced it on his shoulder. “Stand back.”

      Isabelle did so. She wasn’t nearly as sure of Levi’s plan as he seemed to be, and she feared that his efforts might bring the ceiling crumbling down on top of them or, at the very least, alert the soldiers to their presence.

      The thick end of the old wood thudded against the stones as Levi pummeled it a few times. Then he appeared to brace himself, took several steps back and came at the wall at a run.

      “Augh!” Levi exclaimed as the beam buried itself deep in the stones and he stumbled from the impact.

      “Shh!” Isabelle hurried to his side. “Are you all right?”

      The bodyguard looked stunned as he eased himself to his feet. “I’m fine,” he said, though he didn’t sound fine. He tugged at the beam and the stones shifted, crumbling away to reveal a round hole half a meter in diameter. The dust settled, exposing utter blackness beyond.

      Isabelle shuddered. “Do you think the soldiers won’t notice the hole and guess where we’ve gone?”

      Levi pulled off his sunglasses as he turned to face her. His blue eyes were piercing in the silvery beam from the flashlight. “Your father’s generals know about the catacombs,” he stated bluntly. “They were there when your father shared the maps with me. If Lydian soldiers are answering to Valli, he must have at least one general under his thumb somehow. This tells him nothing he doesn’t already know.” He reached for her hand. “Would you like to go first?”

      Although the hole hardly seemed large enough to squeeze through, Isabelle realized they didn’t have time to enlarge it. And the fact that Valli likely knew about the catacombs made their flight that much more urgent.

      Reluctantly, Isabelle placed her hand in Levi’s and climbed over the pile of rubble to peer into the darkness of the hole. “You do recall that we left several soldiers in the mausoleum, don’t you?”

      “I’m sure they’ve left by now.” Levi shined his flashlight into the darkness beyond. “It’s less than a meter to the floor. We should hurry.”

      Realizing he was right, Isabelle hoisted the skirt of her evening gown just high enough to permit her to step through the hole. Her feet found the floor beyond and she secured decent footing among the jumbled stones. As soon as Levi was through she reached for the jacket he wore.

      “I’m cold.” Even her voice shivered.

      Levi pulled off the tuxedo jacket and placed it around her shoulders. “I should have given it to you sooner. I don’t need it.” His white cotton shirt rose and fell against his muscular chest as he sucked in deep breaths, obviously still winded from the exertion of breaking through the wall.

      Slipping her arms through the sleeves, Isabelle turned away from Levi and tried not to think about how indebted she was to the handsome bodyguard for all he’d done on her behalf that evening. Instead she focused on the path ahead.

      Isabelle knew they didn’t have much ground to cover because the Embassy was so close to the cathedral. They rounded a corner and found themselves back at the staircase that led up to the mausoleum. The climb that had been so frightening the first time now felt familiar, although Isabelle knew they had just as much to fear—possibly more so now that the soldiers knew she was alive. When they lifted the opening above, artificial light continued to shine down brightly from the central hall.

      Levi paused. “Do you hear anything?” he asked after some silence.

      “Nothing.”

      “Then let’s go.”

      They clambered through the hole and darted down the hall. Isabelle saw no sign of the soldiers they’d left behind less than an hour before. Relieved that the men weren’t still there, Isabelle nonetheless wondered where they might have gone. Her fingers tightened around Levi’s arm, and her steps slowed.

      “We need to hurry,” he reminded her.

      She shook her head. “Hurry where? You said yourself this is the last place they’d likely look for us. If we go running upstairs we could be captured.”

      The dark line of Levi’s beard flexed as he clenched his jaw. He seemed to weigh her words carefully before he spoke. “The soldiers have already checked the cathedral—I have no doubt about that. They’ll most likely assume we’ve fled the area. They’ll widen the perimeter of their search area before they recheck where they’ve already been.”

      “Do you think so?”

      His СКАЧАТЬ