Chapter 18 - The Exit Celeste Left BehindMara pulled the map from Celeste’s envelope.
“There is another exit.”
Adrian leaned over the table.
“The tunnel beneath the greenhouse.”
“No. That one belongs to August.”
She pointed to a thin blue line running beneath the western garden.
“This passage was added later.”
“By Celeste?” Lily asked.
Mara nodded.
Victor lifted Ethan.
“You lead.”
They moved between the cabinets toward a narrow archway. Mara pressed her wrist band against a metal panel.
Nothing happened.
“The archive revoked me.”
Ethan looked at the panel.
A gold keyhole sat beneath it.
Victor saw the second key in Ethan’s hand.
“No.”
“Daddy—”
“I said no.”
Another explosion struck above them.
The ceiling cracked.
Mara faced Victor.
“Celeste placed the keys in his dress because the system was built to recognize him.”
“Then she used him too.”
“She gave him the only protection she had.”
Victor looked at his son.
Ethan held out the key.
“I want to go home.”
Victor took it and inserted it himself.
The panel flashed red.
ACCESS DENIED.
Ethan placed his fingers over Victor’s hand.
The light changed to green.
A section of stone slid aside.
Cold air rushed from a tunnel.
They entered just as the main chamber door burst open.
Men in dark uniforms spread through the archive.
One raised a weapon.
Marcus appeared behind him and struck him down.
“Move!” he shouted.
Victor hesitated.
Marcus fired at the lights.
The chamber went dark again.
He entered the passage and sealed it behind them.
“You were supposed to secure the house,” Victor said.
“I secured the only thing still worth securing.”
Marcus looked at Ethan.
A shot struck the other side of the stone door.
Mara started down the tunnel.
Victor followed.
Behind them, August’s voice came through the wall speakers.
“You cannot leave the Orchard, Victor.”
Ethan covered his ears.
May you like
August finished softly.
“You were born inside it.”
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