The air grew warmer as I climbed, leaving the damp earth behind.

Daniel’s boots thudded on the steps behind me.

My mind raced through every corner of the estate.

The library.

The greenhouse.

The old carriage house.

Where would Caleb hide a card that could disarm his own trap?

We reached the top of the stairs, emerging into the main hallway of the mansion.

The grandfather clock in the hall ticked loud and slow.

It felt like a mockery of the digital timer downstairs.

“Adrian,” Daniel said, breathing heavily.

“If the card is biometric, it needs his fingerprint.”

“We can’t just find the card.”

“We need him to touch it.”

I stopped in my tracks.

The hallway was quiet, the pale morning light just beginning to filter through the high windows.

“He knows that,” I said.

“That’s why he’s so confident.”

“He thinks even if we find it, we have to bring it back to him.”

“Or bring him to it,” Daniel said.

I looked down at my hands.

They were covered in gray dust from the cellar.

“We find the card first,” I said.