Total pages in book: 154
Estimated words: 145721 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145721 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
She tapped her cell phone as the five minutes dwindled. “Graves.”
He stopped abruptly. “Here we are.”
Darkness swallowed him whole as he stepped off of the train tracks. She gaped in shock. One moment, he’d been at her side, and the next, he’d just vanished.
“This way,” Graves said through the gloom.
Suddenly, the tunnel began to rattle. She jerked her head to the side and saw the lights of the train barreling down the shaft. Fear ripped through her. There was no other option; she took a deep breath and joined him. The darkness seemed to be more of a boundary than anything. Once she was on the other side, she could see that spotty electric wiring lined the roof of the tunnel, illuminating the space.
This was an entrance to Third Floor.
She exhaled slowly. “That must not have been warded.”
“No. There are hundreds of entrances that allow access below, but there are far fewer checkpoints.” Graves stepped over a rotting rat carcass. “The tunnels branch out beneath the city like a web. Even more expansive than the subway system. The checkpoints control entrances to King Louis’s domain. Walter controls the checkpoints with his warding. So he controls access to the market and thus access to King Louis.”
“Kind of brilliant. Are you sure you should have kicked him out of warlock training?”
Graves shot her a look. “It was the right idea at the time.”
“And just think—if you hadn’t done that, we never would have met.”
He frowned as if he didn’t like that assessment one bit. “I highly doubt that.”
So did she. Something tied them together. One way or another, he would have crossed her path.
“Third Floor is its own sprawling city. The checkpoints let them charge for people to get into the market, to live in the market, to work in the market. It will not be easy to find a way in or out other than the checkpoints.”
She nodded. “Got it. Where is the actual market located?”
Graves was silent a moment before saying, “Underneath Grand Central.”
“Ah,” she said in understanding. That made sense. Few ventured to Grand Central anymore. It was as anathema as Times Square, even if it had retained its former glory.
“They still operate the Grand Central Market with a mix of monster and human wares,” Graves explained.
“Only tourists are stupid enough to go there.”
“Precisely,” he said. “This is a mockery of that market. Third Floor is located in the subbasement below the public-facing market. The few humans that venture below either spend enough to maybe ensure their safety or have a death wish.”
“Sounds right,” she said without emotion.
Humans could be just as monstrous as monsters when they wanted to be. But the majority hadn’t asked for any of this to happen. She wanted to see them safe for the safety she had lacked in her youth.
“And King Louis’s residence is at the center of Third Floor?”
“No, actually. How much do you know about the rail system?”
“It gets me where I need to go.”
Graves shot her an amused look. “Ah, well, it’s a fascinating read, if you ever want to try something other than fairy tales.”
“I’m at your disposal. You’re setting the reading materials,” she reminded him.
“I’ll give you a brief rundown. When the rail system was designed in Manhattan, a secret platform called Track 61 was built in 1910 to transport presidents in times of crisis. You can access it via a locked gold door on 49th Street, which leads underneath the Waldorf-Astoria building.”
“Never been in it.”
“It’s under new management.”
“Which monster?” Because she couldn’t imagine there was another explanation in these times.
“Who do you think?”
“Louis,” she guessed.
He nodded. “He purchased the building, gained access to the secret platform, and instead of taking up residence in the penthouse, he holed up in the bunker.”
“Naturally. I’m guessing the door on 49th is warded?”
“It is. You could get in and out of it, but it’s under constant surveillance. We need a more reliable exit.”
That, at least, she could agree on. Exits were part of her repertoire.
Jason had taught her that the hard way.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
“The checkpoint is ahead,” Graves told her, finally slowing several blocks later. She could hear voices coming from the end of the tunnel. “Through there, you’ll get into Third Floor to the monster market and gain access to Louis’s residence through Track 61.”
Kierse and Graves stopped together when the checkpoint came into view, staying just out of sight. She’d seen a picture of it, and it was still disappointing. She’d wanted a filigreed archway with a glittering blue light inside or some kind of substance that would give way beneath her hand. But it was just a tunnel with monsters milling about, guards patrolling, and some kind of machine. If the goblin guards hadn’t been there, she never would have known it was a checkpoint into the monsters’ lair.
“How does it work?”