Release Me

Part 22

Tanner pivoted on his heel, walking away with a brash swagger that taunted me to follow. A defiant streak in me itched to stand my ground, to make my presence felt within these austere walls. Yet, his cryptic phrase, undoubtedly a code from the Sovereign Society, nagged incessantly at the edges of my mind, gnawing at my curiosity like a starved beast.

He navigated the labyrinthine corridors, descending two sets of stairs to the lower levels before veering into a nondescript maintenance room. Hesitating outside, I crossed my arms and arched an eyebrow.

"This is one of three places in the building without audio surveillance," he explained, his tone laced with an air of secrecy, "it's not what it appears."

"It appears to be a broom closet," I retorted dryly.

"Precisely," he replied with a smirk, "Now step inside before you draw the attention of the hallway cameras."

I cast a wary glance upwards, aware that this decision might either lead to a world of trouble or a treasure trove of answers. With a nod, I stepped across the threshold, and Tanner shut the door behind me.

He pushed against two places under the lower shelf. A faint click was the only giveaway that anything had happened. When he pushed on the wall, it moved and I stared in shock as a tunnel opened before us.

"What the fuck?"

"Your contract owner had a small tunnel system built when he put in the foundation. They wanted to come and go as they pleased without anyone on the premises tracking their movements. This was originally built as a place for them to escape the weight of their world. Then you came along, made some rash decisions, and changed the world around them." He turned and stepped through the opening. With each step, a small emergency light came on at his feet to light the path ahead. While tall enough for a person over six feet to walk upright, it was barely wide enough to accommodate his size.

"By the Regent..." I cursed and stepped into the tunnel behind him. The whoosh of air and the slightest click announced the face as the wall behind us returned to its original position, cutting us off from the club.

"For someone who fled Society, you certainly lean on our curses," he pointed out. The rhythmic echo of my heels clattered loudly against the tunnel's confining walls, a distraction I seized upon to ignore his barb.

We didn't walk far before Tanner paused and pushed opened a door to his right. This time, the wall entered what appeared to be a small closet. Then he opened the outer door. A galley kitchen surrounded us as we stepped inside. Across the room was a small conversation area and a bed, which was made to military perfection.

"Where in the world are we?" I stammered, my eyes roving around the room. I was dumbstruck that such a place existed, a phantom space that had somehow evaded the blueprints.

"Across the hall from the wine cellar. The walls facing the hallway are sound resistant to keep the noise of the activities in the room inside. Few people come down to this level, but the extra protection is always nice when you're hiding in plain sight." He tossed his keys onto a small bar and opened the apartment size fridge, retrieving two bottles of water, handing one to me. "They assigned me this post when you became a contractee. Up to now, my job was the unseen night watchman, but when Kade hired me as part of the security team, it changed my duties. I'll be moving off site as soon as the security system comes online, and this room will become yours."

My head spun, and I mentally grabbed the closest issue at hand to give it something on which to focus.

"I already have an apartment above the office next door."

"True, but it's too exposed for some of your requirements. Besides, your contract owner prefers to work in the shadows."

"How did I not know this rooms was here?" I looked around and tried to get a sense of the space in order to translate it back to the blueprints.