Rooming with the Wicked

20 | behind the bookshelf

"You'd destroy it," Danox mumbled, crossing his arms.

"If you were smart, yes, but let's say you can't destroy everything for whatever reason." I pulled on the switch and, with a low creak, the metal lock holding the shelf in place opened, revealing a small gap in the wall. "You'd give it to a trusted member to hide. And what better place than a secret room in a highly secure building?"

"Fair."

"Come on, Grumpy, give me a paw."

Danox muttered something unintelligible and probably unfriendly under his breath as he sauntered over to me.

With our combined strength, the door gave way without much protest and we found ourselves standing at the top of narrow stairs leading into a dark abyss below. A low-glowing teal lux crystal hung on the wall just behind the door, barely illuminating the first three steps.

"It's creepier than I remember," I breathed, trying and failing to see the bottom of the stairs.

"It's only one floor down," Danox said casually. "Maybe one and a half."

Right, shifter sight. Silly me almost forgot whom I was hanging out with now.

"When was the last time you were in here?" he added as I reached for the light.

"Ten—twelve years ago." I clutched the crystal tighter and took a deep breath. "I got myself some neat military-grade thermal binoculars—the same one I used to follow you, by the way—and sneaked down here in the middle of the night."

"That explains it," he muttered, following me down the stairs.

"Mad you got outplayed by a human?"

"Don't worry, I won't be underestimating you again."

That made me laugh.

Danox was right, of course. The bottom came into view fairly soon and I felt myself relax, but only for a moment, seeing as we were now faced with an entirely different problem. The thin wooden door I remembered had been replaced by one of shiny metal.

"That's new," I groaned.

A knock on the cold exterior confirmed my fears. Yup, solid metal.

"I'm guessing you don't have a key," Danox said as we both took in the beautiful bolt and padlock in the middle.

"Nope." I glanced back toward Dad's office. "Maybe he's got a key somewhere up there, but..."

Danox stepped around me and crouched in front of the door. With one hand on the frame, he scrutinized the lock. Then he lifted his hoodie with the other, revealing a black...fanny pack?

Before I could ask him what he was planning on doing, he unzipped it and retrieved a small set of metal tools. This guy kept a freaking lockpick in his fanny pack?

His eyes briefly flitted to me before he got to work, and he sighed. "Spit it out."

"Nothing," I said as casually as possible.

"Your face tells a different story."

"I'm just thinking this might be the best friendship I've ever had."

The soft metal click was surprisingly loud as he readjusted his grip before asking, "You haven't had very many friends, have you?"

I felt myself frown. "What makes you say that?"

He didn't answer.

Rude.

Another click and the lock came off. Not bad, Grumpy Kitty. Not bad at all.