Chapter 187
My nerves were getting the best of me, and I knew I wasn’t going to be able to sleep tonight. I wondered if Elliot was sleeping right now; I wondered if he was thinking about me at all. I’m sure he was… I hoped he knew that I was doing everything I could to save him. His life was in danger, and I hated that I was so far away from him.
As the hours ticked by and the house grew deadly silent, I knew this was my chance to explore some other areas of the house. I wanted to find Scott’s office and search around to see if maybe he was hiding the dagger in there.
I climbed out of bed and made my way out of the room, opening the door slowly so I wouldn’t alert anyone that I was leaving my room. I could hardly hear anything in any of the rooms, which meant they had to have been sleeping. I wondered how many rooms were occupied and how many contained sleeping rogues. How many rogues were in each room?
I swallowed the lump in my throat and continued down the hallway. I found the stairway that led to the second floor; it was incredibly dark up there, but I always had good eyesight, so I was able to navigate my way up the stairs easily.
I wasn’t sure where to even begin on finding his office. I didn’t want to accidentally stumble upon someone else’s bedroom. I wasn’t sure how I’d be able to explain myself in that case. I started by pressing my ear to each door, trying to find any signs of life.
I could hear light breathing in one of the rooms and I figured someone was sleeping in there. I moved onto the next door, trying to be as quiet as humanly possible. There was snoring coming from that door.
Letting out the breath I had been holding, I moved on to the next door. I could hear some light talking and I realized I recognized my brother’s voice. This was his bedroom? Was he awake? Upon hearing some more of his incoherent words, I realized he was sleep-talking.
I walked to the end of the hall and pressed my ear to the door. I waited with bated breath, trying to listen for any signs of anybody, but there was nothing but silence. I reached for the doorknob and turned it; the door was unlocked.
As soon as I opened the door, I saw a desk on the far side of the room along with some other office-type furniture. This had to be Scott’s office.
Relieved that I finally made it to my destination, I slipped inside and quietly closed the door behind me. I didn’t bother turning on the light; if anyone walked out of their bedrooms and saw the light on, they would come and investigate. I was good at seeing in the dark, so I navigated through the room with ease. I opened each drawer, but I came up blank.
Aggravated, I walked over to the closet and opened the doors. I froze when I saw a safe attached to the wall.
That had to be where Scott was keeping the dagger!
Excitement filled me; now I just
needed to figure out the passcode. I
spoke to Scott a lot today and
found out different things. Like the
day his adopted mother died
I tried that first and it beeped at the failed attempt. I sighed and tried our combined birthday. It beeped again as it failed.
I thought even harder, wondering
how many tries this safe would
allow me to have before it locked me
out for good. I had to make this next try count because I couldn’t risk Scott being alerted that someone was trying to break into the safe.
I typed in the date of our birth parent’s death; to my delight, it dinged, and I heard it unlatching.
I nearly squealed with excitement as I swung the door open only to find that the safe was completely empty.
My entire heart fell deep into my stomach.
“Looking for this?” I heard a voice say from behind me.
I whipped around, shocked to find
Scott standing at the doorway,, holding the very dagger I was
looking for. I felt complete/yvel
defeated.
Beside him was the rogue who practically threatened me earlier; humor danced in his eyes as he folded his arms across his chest.
“I told you she was up to no good,” he murmured. “She was never on our side, and she never will be p>