“I thought you said they cut the number of guards at midnight?”

“They never cut the number of guards,” he whispers. “That’s just when they rotate. Their stations are reduced because they’re in motion, not because they’re off duty.”

I pull back and look at him so that he can see that I think he’s an ass for misleading me. He winks and lowers himself silently, hand over hand, down the vine before dropping the last few feet onto the lawn. I do the same and reluctantly follow him to the heavy fabric shrouding the courtyard door.

He stands on one side and I on the other. I imitate his movements and tuck myself behind the curtain, pressing my back flat against the uneven stone wall, trying to stay as far away from the arched doorway as possible.

A minute ticks by and my breath slows, but my stomach does constant somersaults. Then comes the sound of a latch lifting, and instantly every hair on my body stands at attention. The door clicks shut and the fabric moves. I slide into the archway and hold my breath in the darkness, afraid that if I even blink, the guard will hear me and skewer me with a sword. Not that I’ve ever seen them with swords, but still.

Five horrible seconds pass before Ash opens the door. I practically trip over myself to get inside. The moment the door closes, I start to run for the stairs, but Ash pulls me to a halt. He pushes my hair back and cups his hand over his mouth and my ear.

“You’ll get caught that way. Take the far right hallway all the way to the end, and then take that staircase up. Stay against the left wall.” He pulls my hood up over my head and releases me.

I take off without pause, my boots making a muffled patting sound against the stone. The hallway Ash told me to take is almost entirely shadowed, making it hard to see. As much as I’d like to maintain my sprint, I slow to a jog to silence my steps. Dad always said that if you’re rushing and making noise you’ll completely miss what’s going on around you. I hug the left wall just like Ash said. And even though it’s cold, my hands are sweating from the spike of adrenaline.

Halfway down the long hallway, the shadows ahead of me appear darker, different. I pause and steal a glance over my shoulder. No one is there and everything is still. I squint at the shadows ahead, trying to make sense of the dark shape. It doesn’t appear to be moving or giving any indication that it’s animate, but there also shouldn’t be anything on the floor of this hallway. Layla took me through it earlier and it was completely empty—no furniture, no rugs, no tapestries. I inch forward, keeping my steps perfectly silent.

For the last couple of feet, I hold my breath. I tentatively nudge the long shape with my boot, and it gives slightly but there isn’t a sound. I bend down and squint in the dark and that’s when I realize what I’m looking at. Feet. My boot touched someone’s foot. Oh no. No. I rub my eyes. This can’t be right.