I follow Ash up the rope ladder with Aarya and Ines right behind me. As soon as I reach the ceiling, I pull myself up into a small circular room about the size of a walk-in closet that has nothing in it except a stone staircase. Ash waits with the candle while Aarya and Ines hoist themselves into the room, and after closing the hatch, the four of us start up the steep staircase together.

The stone steps are worn, suggesting that the Lion estate is an old building—possibly a medieval castle or manor house. I run my fingers along the uneven stone wall, sending a silent plea that the braided lock of hair Layla gave me will bring us luck.

Ash stops in front of an arched door. He loads a dart tipped with Angels’ Dream into a blowpipe and we follow suit. When we’re all ready and braced, he grabs the door latch and snuffs out his candle. For two seconds we’re cast into complete darkness, a circumstance that caused me to panic an hour ago but that now feels a million times safer than whatever is on the other side of that door.

Ash cracks the door ever so slowly and a small sliver of light appears. Without hesitation he sticks the wooden pipe through the half inch of space and blows on it. He throws the door open and in one fluid motion runs for the stumbling guard, catching him right before he hits the ground. The three of us emerge from the staircase and I help Ash lower the guard silently to the floor.

We scan what appears to be an extensive wine cellar, blowpipes in hand. There are no other guards in sight, which strikes me as odd. Why only one guard? Are the Lions so confident that no one would have the guts to break in, or that their door is so well hidden that most people wouldn’t find it? Ash and I make eye contact and I can tell he’s wondering the same thing.

We move methodically across the room between the rows of wine barrels, pausing intermittently to listen, but the cellar is unnervingly quiet. I keep hoping I’ll spot a pathway that will lead us to another part of the basement and to the dungeon itself, but no such luck. There are only wine, stone walls, and one flight of stairs. Ines takes the lead, creeping upward with grace.

She stops at the door at the top of the stairs, crouching on the ground to peer under it. Four seconds pass and she stands back up, holding up two fingers, which I’m assuming means there are two guards. She taps her blowpipe and points to her right, then she taps Aarya’s and points to her left, mapping out a plan of execution.