“I don’t recognize this castle,” Inari said as she stepped out of the Land Rover. The sun beat down from a clear blue sky, the temperature hitting a lovely seventy-one degrees. Behind them, two more vehicles had parked and security teams exited quickly. Her guards, Bero leading, went ahead to the castle ruins to investigate the area. Elias’s guards hung back to protect the rear.

“That’s because it’s been abandoned for a long time and no one ever visits,” Elias said. “This place was once, for a short time, the Ahtissari family seat. But it was heavily damaged in war and, according to legend, the sitting king moved his family to a sturdier dwelling until Ahtissari Castle finished being built.”

She glanced from the tall towers and sprawling stonework to Elias himself. He’d dressed in dark colors for their foray below ground, while she’d chosen beige riding pants that tapered into knee-high brown leather boots, and a crisp off-white shirt tucked in at the waist. A thin leather belt finished off the outfit. A foolish choice of clothing to be sure, thanks to the grunge they were sure to find underground, but she’d not been able to bring herself to don ratty jeans and a sweatshirt. Not when it had been a month since she’d seen Elias, and not when she wanted to make a good impression.

Their text messages and phone calls had been cursory and polite, due to hacking fears, but now she looked forward to some alone time, even if it meant skulking around dark tunnels beneath a deserted castle. The guards would not follow them all the way down, which meant a little privacy. At last.

“Are you sure you can even get into the tunnels?” she asked as they approached the huge double doors.

“I have no idea,” he said with a laugh, and produced a key ring from his pocket. Once they’d reached the padlocked door handles, he made swift work of removing the locks and chains.

“You’ll need your flashlight as soon as we step inside,” he said.

Inari got into the backpack she’d organized before departing Somero and fished out her light. Elias’s backpack was far larger, but not too large, and much heavier. He’d insisted on carrying the water, helmets, and other survival gear.

“Well, if nothing else,” she said, “I get to explore the castle.” With you. She nearly said the thought aloud. The eerie timing of his sudden glance made it seem as if he’d read her mind or guessed what she’d left off.

“It’s a little creepy, but cool.” He winked and led the way inside.

Inari followed after battling through a round of goose bumps. It took very little time in his presence before the telltale looks and quips started between them.

“I like creepy.” In truth, she hadn’t liked it until her first subterranean tunnel crawl with Elias, and only up until the point when she’d had a mild bout of claustrophobia. She hoped the tunnels here were not as narrow as the others. Not as suffocating.

Elias snorted but said nothing as he snapped on his light and flashed it around the enormous entrance and great hall.

Inari got her first look at the towering ceilings and broad, empty space. She shone her light here and there, though the shadows were not too terribly dark thanks to daylight that filtered in through several high windows. One could almost imagine the medieval gatherings that had gone on in this room, with its stone floor and rough stone walls. There were tall archways leading deeper into the castle, and those were much darker, proving most did not have windows or other avenues to let the sunlight in.

Elias withdrew a map from his backpack and led the way through one of the arches. “Remember, if there’s an emergency, the radio in my pack will connect with the guards outside. Bero also has a handset.”

“Even when we’re down below, it’ll work?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“That’s a relief. Not that I expect there to be an emergency.”

“No one ever does.” He traversed several shorter hallways, bypassing closed doors that stirred Inari’s imagination.

Were they libraries? Parlors? Studies? Bedrooms?

Now wasn’t the time to ask for a thorough tour, but she decided to inquire another day. The more she learned about the Ahtissari lineage, the more she wanted to know.

She stopped behind Elias when he came to a specific door with a carving in the stone above it. A hollow-eyed skull, she discovered, when she shone her light directly upon the engraving.

“We won’t come across bones or dead people, right?” she asked. What else could the skull mean? This had to be the entrance to the dungeons.

“To be honest, I’m not sure what we’re going to find,” he said, unlocking the door.

“Did your ancestors imprison traitors and enemy combatants here?” she asked.

“Of course they did. But I imagine they discarded any remains.”

What could she say? Somero Palace had its own set of dungeons. They hadn’t been built for show.

She followed Elias down a rather steep set of stone stairs, one hand on the wall for balance. The air had a stale, dank smell that was different than the one upstairs. She could not pinpoint the differences precisely, only that she knew they were there.

“What do you see?” she asked as they descended.

“Stairs.”

She scoffed. “Not the bottom yet?”

“Not yet.”

“We’re going awfully deep. How deep is it?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never been down here.”

“Did you bring those marking things for the walls?” she asked.

He chuckled, paused his descent, and glanced back. “You’re already showing signs of anxiety. Are you sure you want to do this? I can come back myself another day, Inari. It’s all right.”

She detected no censure or judgment in his eyes or his words. Just kindness.

“I’m all right. It’s a little more . . . narrow than I’d hoped.”

“It is. Likely the tunnels will be the same.” He apparently took her at her word, however, because he continued down.

Inari followed.

Eventually the staircase spat them out into a small cavern. Her flashlight panned the walls and the entrance to several more corridors or rooms, she couldn’t be sure. The inky shadows crowded against the beam of light as if to suffocate it. She shook off a distinct sense of unease.

“I think we start to the right and work our way through each room or tunnel,” Elias said. He put one map away for a blank sheet, a pen, and a piece of chalk that he marked the wall with.

“That’s probably the most logical way to go about it.” Methodical. Inari was coming to understand it was how Elias preferred to work.

He glanced over, met her eyes, then set off for the first doorway.

Which wasn’t a doorway at all, but the entrance to a tunnel.

Inari had hoped for another cavern before sliding herself straightaway into the snug confines of a rather narrow corridor. At least it wasn’t as narrow as the one beneath Ahtissari Castle.

She set to work as they walked, taking it slow, shining her light all over the walls, ceiling, and floor. Looking not just for stray artifacts, but anything that might indicate a hidden door. She was Elias’s backup, and though she didn’t expect him to miss any detail whatsoever, it surely didn’t hurt to have the extra set of eyes.

Periodically, he paused to mark the wall with the same color chalk.

Inari guessed they’d gone perhaps twenty yards when Elias stopped and bent to pick something up off the ground.

She crowded against his back, trying to peer around his shoulder. Suddenly, she didn’t mind the closeness of the walls or the sense of being entombed. Her curiosity won out over nerves for a moment.

“What is it?” she asked.

Elias straightened and rolled a round piece of metal between his fingers. “Not sure. Doesn’t have any markings. Probably a piece of someone’s armory or something.”

Inari watched him tuck the piece into his pack before continuing on.

She suspected there were a lot of moments like this, when something appeared on the ground only to be a little bit of nothing. The swell of excitement remained with her for another half hour.

They discovered three rooms off the tunnel before they hit a dead end. All the rooms had been barren. No scraps of material or old crates or pieces of metal turned up anywhere. Elias marked every detail on his map, even the spot he’d picked up the stray bit of armory.

This time she took the lead on the way back.

“I can better understand now how time-consuming this is,” she said. Despite the fact they’d already searched this section, she still looked for anything they might have missed.

Different perspectives, and all that.

“It’s very time-consuming,” he said. “But also fascinating. I’d love to know what went on in those rooms back there. It’s a shame we didn’t find any hints or clues.”

“Like chains or shackles or desks for an office?”

“Yes.”

“There were no doors, even. I’d guess storage areas or guards’ quarters. The fact that we didn’t find the rooms closer to the main cavern up here is that they probably used this as a diversionary tactic, too. In case prisoners got loose or the castle was stormed by the enemy, who chased them all the way down. Make them waste time following a dead end,” she said. Finally, she emerged into the main cavern and pulled in a deep breath.

“Very strategic guesses,” Elias said. He approached after tucking his map and pen away, and stroked his thumb gently across her forehead.

Inari glanced at his eyes. “What?”

“Little beads of sweat. You sure you want to continue?” he asked in a quiet voice.

“Yes. I’m handling it all right so far. Let’s do the next.” Before he pulled his thumb away, Inari tilted her face into his touch. A small token of affection, which lit his blue eyes with an inner fire. He smiled, and it almost melted her heart.

“Let’s go.” He took the lead again into the second tunnel after using a different colored chalk to mark the entrance.

Here they discovered quite a few rooms, but more cobwebs than anything useful. This tunnel curved several times, but also ended in a dead end.

By the time they finally emerged into the main cavern, two hours had passed. Inari had done well so far battling against an increasing level of discomfort. The narrower tunnels were the worst; once she stepped into any kind of open space, even a ten-by-ten room, some of the angst retreated. Some, but not all. She swiped at a band of sweat that had collected along her hairline, and accepted a bottle of water when Elias offered it over.

“Thanks,” she said. After removing the cap, she took a long drink.

“Welcome.”

“Why are you looking at me with that contemplative expression?” she asked, arching a brow.

“Wondering how long you’re going to subject yourself to this, just to prove a point.”

“It’s mind over matter. Mostly. I’m doing okay with it.” She capped the bottle and glanced at the other, untried tunnels. “You think we’ll have time for maybe one more before we have to call it a day?”

“Depends on how long it is. How far back it goes. We’ll make some decent progress, though.” He slid his and her water away into his pack.

“You know, this castle doesn’t seem to be in that bad a shape. I’m surprised your family hasn’t tried to fix whatever’s wrong and use it as an extra holding,” she said as they picked up their search again.

“The damage is at the back. Part of a wall and about eighteen hundred square feet of the interior were obliterated during a skirmish. I suspect my ancestor didn’t have enough time to rebuild before another assault or something. It could have been fixed, it just would have taken a while,” he said. “I think my father should open it to the public. Many people love old castles.”

“That’s a good idea also. Plus, the property is protected and maintained at all times.”

“We make sure any ruins in Latvala—castles, churches, buildings—are checked on regularly. My grandfather didn’t see the need to spend money on restoring any of the ruins, though my father has done so since taking the throne.”

As Elias’s soothing baritone filled the tunnel, Inari caught herself becoming distracted and lulled by his voice. She paused and backtracked ten feet.

He stopped, too, shining his light at her feet. “What? Find something?”

“No. I just realized that I’d been walking along, not present in the moment. You know? So I thought I should go back and make sure I didn’t miss anything that you might have missed.”

“Caught daydreaming,” he said, and it wasn’t a question.

Heat crept from her throat to her hairline. Thank goodness it was dark and that his light was pointed down. “Caught thinking, you mean.”

The silence that filled the tunnel next might as well have been filled with his knowing laughter. As if to say, we both know better.

She finally scoffed, and his laughter became real.

He knew very well what she’d been daydreaming about.

“Should we test the theo—” Elias paused.

Inari glanced up and over, then followed the beam of his light. He’d angled it up and to the side, just past her shoulder.

“What is it?” She, too, aimed her light that way.

“Something about the wall here doesn’t seem right.” He stepped forward, closer to her, and ran his bare hand across the stone.

Inari’s senses were immediately suffused with his scent. Something undeniably masculine overlaid by the hint of his cologne.

To her surprise, a loud hiss shattered the silence.

And then a small section of wall began to move.