Laurent studied his eyes in return, desperate to trust him. Gansey's
statements didn't make any sense. He wanted to stay.
"Come with me," Laurent said, turning around and heading back the way
they'd come. He led the way through the opera house again, faster this
time, and not holding Gansey's hand. They went a slightly different route,
backstage into one of the mechanism rooms that controlled the stagecraft.
"Look here," Laurent said, drawing his attention to the panel. He took
Gansey's hand, guiding it along the edge of a panel, showing him where to
press so that it slid open before him, leading into a lightless tunnel.
"This way takes longer, but it's safer," Laurent explained, drawing him
into the darkness and showing how to securely close the panel again. "As
you walk, keep your hand always on the left wall." He put Gansey's hand on
it to demonstrate, and then did the same and began to lead the way in front
of him. The route led them down along a sloping path, pitch black. "When
you feel the metal bar," Laurent's voice said from just in front of him,
pausing on the next step, "the stairs begin. There's a banister on your
left. Feel for it."
At the bottom of the stairs, Laurent demonstrated the puzzle mechanism of
the lock. "There's no trap on this one. It's safe if you make a mistake."
The door opened back into the phantom's lair. Laurent didn't mention that
the door set off an alarm chiming elsewhere in the lair, and reset the
alarm with a subtle gesture as he shut the door. "In any hallway in the
lair with black tiles in the floor, keep close against the walls."
Further into the lair, Laurent showed him another door, showing him again
how to operate it from both sides and taking him through it up through a
long sloped tunnel to a locked gate and showing him, again, how the puzzle
on the gate mechanism operated.
"There," Laurent said, at last. Gansey was free to go, and free to stay.
"Go on," he said, nodding toward the velvet night outside. "I'm not going
anywhere."
no subject
Laurent studied his eyes in return, desperate to trust him. Gansey's statements didn't make any sense. He wanted to stay.
"Come with me," Laurent said, turning around and heading back the way they'd come. He led the way through the opera house again, faster this time, and not holding Gansey's hand. They went a slightly different route, backstage into one of the mechanism rooms that controlled the stagecraft. "Look here," Laurent said, drawing his attention to the panel. He took Gansey's hand, guiding it along the edge of a panel, showing him where to press so that it slid open before him, leading into a lightless tunnel.
"This way takes longer, but it's safer," Laurent explained, drawing him into the darkness and showing how to securely close the panel again. "As you walk, keep your hand always on the left wall." He put Gansey's hand on it to demonstrate, and then did the same and began to lead the way in front of him. The route led them down along a sloping path, pitch black. "When you feel the metal bar," Laurent's voice said from just in front of him, pausing on the next step, "the stairs begin. There's a banister on your left. Feel for it."
At the bottom of the stairs, Laurent demonstrated the puzzle mechanism of the lock. "There's no trap on this one. It's safe if you make a mistake."
The door opened back into the phantom's lair. Laurent didn't mention that the door set off an alarm chiming elsewhere in the lair, and reset the alarm with a subtle gesture as he shut the door. "In any hallway in the lair with black tiles in the floor, keep close against the walls."
Further into the lair, Laurent showed him another door, showing him again how to operate it from both sides and taking him through it up through a long sloped tunnel to a locked gate and showing him, again, how the puzzle on the gate mechanism operated.
"There," Laurent said, at last. Gansey was free to go, and free to stay. "Go on," he said, nodding toward the velvet night outside. "I'm not going anywhere."