Parallel 667

Chapter 7

A sharp rap had Carthy jerking his head off the folder. The clock on the wall read 5 a.m.

He rubbed his hands up and down his face once, peering around the room for the source of the noise. Thump. His head jerked around to the front door as wariness crept under his skin. Joseph always used the door that connected the bathroom they shared.

Emlyn never woke him.

Harper? Running his fingers through his hair a few times, he crept closer to the door. His shirt was wrinkled, and he could smell the rank sweat that had dried from last night's practice. Harper would be in for a treat. Served her right for waking him up this early.

As his hand closed around the door knob, a faint tingling made him pause. Harper really had no reason to wake him this early, and if she did, he doubted she would bother knocking. She was more likely to waltz in and declare the place hers with a flourish and a sigh. At the last second, he spun around and snagged the dagger he had tossed on his bed the night before, tucking it up against his arm before returning to the door. He opened it in one quick movement.

No one was there.

On silent feet he slid out of his room, adrenaline chasing the sleep from his mind. Scanning the catwalk twice, he found it empty. It could have been a dream. He had always been a vivid dreamer- that was part of the reason he had been recruited to the Court.

Carthy let his shoulders relax. He had already turned back towards his room when he heard it. The metallic clang of two swords jangling against one another rang through the warehouse.

In an instant he was moving, the dagger poised in his left hand, while he used his right to propel himself over the railing, landing in a practiced roll. Gooseflesh raised on his arms and he turned in a slow circle, scanning the walls for signs of movement. Nothing. Thick shadows were draped over the training room, billowing out behind pillars of metal and under the catwalk. The only sound was the steady rhythm of Carthy's breath and the soft suggestion of his footsteps as he maneuvered out of the training arena to inspect the weapon walls. They were vacant.

Once Carthy had circled the training room twice, he stopped, not daring to lower in dagger. "Harper?" he whispered in to the gloom. There was no reply. "Joseph?"

He did not know any of the other assassins that took residence on his Parallel well enough for them to play pranks on one another, and he prayed that was what this was, a prank. A dumb, ridiculous prank he was going to punch one of his friends for later.

As the seconds stretched by, the tension in his shoulders loosened a fraction. Most of the windows had been blown in before he arrived. A stray gust of wind could have snuck through and rattled the weapons. And he could have imagined the knock on his door. After all, yesterday had been a long day, between work and practice, and he had spent the better half of the night studying for his upcoming assignment. His apprehension about this upcoming assignment was catching up to him. That was all it was, all it could be. He had settled on the idea, finding his way back to the staircase, when he heard the sound again.

It was coming from outside, the resounding sound of a gate clanging shut.

Carthy had taken one step towards the door when a thought froze him in place. Whoever was making this sound had knocked on his door. They had knocked on the door, moved down to the training room, and onto the gate. Whoever it was, they were leading him outside.

Carthy thought he should be immune to fear, but he felt its cold breath mingle with his own as his body unlocked itself and began moving towards the trap. He had spent so long wearing the maws of a predator he had forgotten what it felt like to be prey, to feel another's hot, rank breath raise the goose flesh on his arms and legs.