Chapter 538: The Building That Should Have Been Empty II

Chapter 537: The Building That Should Have Been Empty II

A man sat hunched in the corner of one cell, staring blankly at the ground.

Another lay stretched across the floor of his cell, unmoving except for the slow rise and fall of his chest.

Victoria walked slowly along the row of cells before stopping near an empty one.

"William, love," she said.

He stepped forward. "Yes, my lady."

"Open it," she said as she gestured to the cell, handing him the keys.

Tobias nodded and then took the keys delicately from her. He tried the first one but it didn’t work, and Victoria chuckled like a teenage girl being impressed by her crush.

"That’s not it, silly," she told him. "You have to look for the exact key that fits."

Tobias gave a weak smile and then nodded. He immediately searched the keys, looking for the one that fit exactly in the lock. The metal scraped softly as he turned it, the door swinging open with a heavy creak.

"Put her in," Victoria said to him.

Tobias nodded and pushed Annabeth inside the cell. She did not resist when he pushed her inside.

She stepped into the cell calmly, the chains around her wrists clinking softly.

For a moment, their eyes met.

Hers were steady.

Tobias forced himself to look away as he closed the door and locked it again.

"Don’t look at him that way, love," Victoria told her. "William is all mine, he cannot be yours, and in case you forgot, your eyes can’t do much damage to him. You are in my clutches after all."

Annabeth glared at her but didn’t say anything.

Victoria rolled her eyes. "You are no fun," she said with a huff.

Tobias turned toward Nathan, ready to put the man in the cell Victoria would ask him to, but just as he reached for the old man’s arm, Victoria spoke again.

"No."

Tobias paused and turned to her. "My lady?"

Victoria tilted her head slightly.

"I’m having a few thoughts about this one. How about we take him to the other dungeon?"

"By the other dungeon you mean the one in the castle?" he asked her.

"You are smart, William, and that’s why I’ve taken an interest in you. Yes, that is exactly what I mean," she told him.

Tobias frowned faintly. He would have to climb up the stairs and then go back to the castle, climbing down another flight of stairs before he placed Nathan in a dungeon. Just thinking about it was exhausting, but he didn’t say a word. He only nodded.

Nathan looked equally confused, though he remained silent. He had thought he’d be placed in the same dungeon as Annabeth, maybe a different cell but the same dungeon nonetheless.

Tobias reached for the old man’s arm again.

And Victoria smiled at him, her blue eyes on him.

If not for the fact that Sophia’s eyes were more beautiful, Tobias would have thought they had the same eyes. But the only thing beautiful about Victoria’s was the fact that her eyes were blue.

Victoria’s eyes lacked warmth and they didn’t match the expressions she made on her face most times. Her eyes made him uncomfortable.

But Sophia’s eyes were welcoming and they sometimes reminded him of the moon. They were not a vibrant blue like Victoria’s, but they were more beautiful.

Inside Tobias’s chest, something cold twisted at Victoria’s smile.

Even Ryker stirred uneasily in the back of his mind.

*I don’t like this,* he said. *It feels like we are setting ourselves up for a trap.*

Perhaps Tobias should have listened to Ryker, but then again, Tobias was a stubborn person and he was already in too deep to leave.

He bowed his head slightly toward Victoria before guiding Nathan back toward the staircase.

Neither of them spoke as they climbed.

The guards remained below.

The air grew warmer again as they reached the upper corridor.

Moments later they stepped outside. Nathan and Tobias did not utter a word to each other.

He had barely taken three steps away from the building when hurried footsteps approached behind him.

A guard appeared at the doorway.

"She wants you back," the man said.

Tobias didn’t ask why.

He simply turned around and walked back into the building. Immediately he entered, he saw Victoria standing and watching him.

Her expression was thoughtful.

"I’ve changed my mind, take him to the dungeon," she said to him.

Tobias wondered if this was a test. And if it was, he was not going to fail it.

Tobias blinked once.

"I’m sorry, my lady," he replied calmly. "I have no knowledge of any dungeon in this building."

Victoria stared at him.

For a moment the silence stretched so long that Tobias could hear his own heartbeat.

Then she laughed.

The sound echoed through the empty corridor.

"That’s why I like you," she said between amused breaths.

She waved a hand dismissively.

"Take him back to the castle. The dungeon there will do."

Tobias bowed.

He turned toward the door again. Nathan followed without resistance.

This time, they had reached the edge of the hill when Victoria’s voice rang out once more. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

"William."

Tobias stopped and turned back to her.

Victoria stood in the doorway now, the torchlight behind her casting long shadows across the ground.

"I’ve changed my mind."

Tobias waited.

"We’ll keep him here instead."

For a split second, Ryker snarled in the back of his mind.

*She is playing with you.*

"There’s no doubt about that. But we’ll talk later," he told Ryker.

"As you wish," he said to Victoria with a bow.

This time, one of the guards accompanied him down the staircase.

Neither man spoke during the descent.

Back in the dungeon, Tobias unlocked a second cell and guided Nathan inside.

The old man stepped in quietly, and Tobias closed the door with a heavy clang before walking away.

When he reached the top of the stairs again, Victoria was still waiting.

"I’ve arranged a healer for you," she said casually. "When you return to the castle, ask for someone named Zero. He will do exceedingly well with your injuries."

Tobias nodded. "Thank you for your kindness."

Victoria smiled faintly at him. "And you can get your money from the treasury too. It’s a huge pay this time."

Tobias nodded and then bowed before leaving the building.

The doors closed behind him with a dull thud.

Only after his footsteps disappeared down the hill did Victoria turn back toward the corridor.

Her pace was slow as she moved through the hall once more.

Past the hidden passage.

Past the marble floors.

Toward another section of the building.

Toward the place beneath it where Selith waited.