I’m on edge the rest of the day until there’s a commotion downstairs. Maud tries to run interference, but it’s obvious something’s going on. “It’s just work,” she says as I head toward the stairs.
“Are you going to stick a needle in my arm to keep me from bothering him?”
Her eyebrows raise. “I’m thinking about it.”
I tilt my chin up, showing her my throat. “Go ahead then.”
“That’s a bit dramatic.” Her smile seems almost proud of me. “I could just jab you in the arm.”
I grin at her and brush past. She doesn’t try to stop me. Weirdly, I get the feeling Maud respects me for standing up to her. At least, I hope so.
Otherwise, she’s going to put something in my food, and I’ll end up dying a week later or something crazy.
There are half a dozen men down in the foyer. Most of them are lounging around, but they all nod to me respectfully. I find Tigran in the kitchen pouring drinks and beaming like he just won the lottery. “There she is,” he says, raising a glass of wine in my direction. “Come on, have a drink with us.”
“Pregnant.” I gesture at my stomach. “Where’s my husband?”
“Taking care of business.” Tigran throws back the wine and sighs contentedly. “Today was a good day.”
“What happened?”
He leans back against the counter, swirling his glass. Nearby, some of the soldiers are sharing a bottle of vodka and laughing together. I can’t remember the last time there were this many men in the house. Arsen’s usually much more private.
Something big must’ve gone down.
“You know, my brother tells you too much,” Tigran says at last. “It’s strange how much he trusts you.”
“I get it, you don’t approve of me. You’ve made that clear.”
He holds up a hand. “Actually, that’s not it. I’m only protective of my older brother, and we don’t really know you, do we?”
“I’m not doing this right now. Where’s Arsen?”
“For all I know, you’ve got connections back to the Zeitsev Bratva. Wouldn’t that be funny?”
“I don’t even know who they are.”
“So you say.” Tigran takes a long drink. I’m very aware of the people watching us right now. “And yet I still don’t trust you.”
I lean against the island, glaring hard at my brother-in-law. “Here’s the thing. I don’t give a crap if you trust me or not. Arsen does, and he’s all that matters. Now, where is my husband?”
Arsen’s voice makes me turn around. “I’m right here,” he says, glaring at his brother. “Was Tigran being a pain in the ass again?”
“Just having a friendly conversation with my new sister, that’s all.” He finishes his drink and gestures for the nearby guards to follow him. “Come on, boys, let’s take this party elsewhere. I have a feeling the patron is going to ruin all our fun.”
Arsen grabs Tigran’s arm as he tries to pass. “I’m not ruining anything,” he snarls. “I want you and the men to celebrate.”
“Then we’ll celebrate on your fucking tab, brother.”
“Good. Make sure they know they’re appreciated.” The two men stare each other down before Tigran pulls away. The group leaves the kitchen and I’m alone with Arsen.
“What’s going on?” I ask him as he walks over and pours himself some water. He drinks it down, looking frustrated.
“Busy day. That’s all.”
“All these people—”
“They won’t bother you. Even Tigran’s harmless.”
“He still hates me.”
“He’ll come around.” Arsen’s expression hardens. “Or I’ll have to make him.”
I hate not knowing what’s going on. It bothers me more than I thought it would. But it’s obvious that Arsen’s dealing with something right now, and I decide not to press him about it.
Instead, I go over and hug him softly. He eases into my arms. A weight seems to fall from his shoulders as he relaxes under my touch, and I can’t help but smile to myself.
This big, powerful, dangerous man always melts into me.
It’s intoxicating how easily my touch soothes him.
That’s a strength I never knew I’d love.
“I found something earlier,” I say softly, stroking my fingers down his muscular bicep. I tell him about the noises, about the trigger, and about the passageway. “Someone was in there. I chased them, but—”
He frowns down at me. “Are you sure?”
“I’m positive. Did you know about this?”
“My great-grandfather built this house. I heard he was extremely paranoid.”
“That’s not really an answer.”
He grunts and gently disengages himself from me. I feel cold when he takes a few steps across the kitchen. “It’s not important,” he says finally. “Forget about the passages.”
“Arsen, someone was watching me. Doesn’t that worry you?”
“Everyone in this house cares about you, Lena. You’re safe with my people.”
“Even Tigran?”
“Even my brother would die for you.”
“Only if you asked him to.”
He flinches slightly and turns on me. “What do you want me to do about this right now? You’re talking about secret passageways and mysterious strangers, while I have a war to manage.”
My eyebrows raise. “I know you’re stressed, but you shouldn’t talk to me that way.”
He immediately looks contrite. “I’m sorry, baby.” He comes to me and takes my hands. “I’m not trying to be dismissive. It’s just been a long day and I’m stressed.”
“Don’t take it out on me.”
“I’m not. At least, I didn’t mean to. Forgive me.”
I raise his hands to my lips and kiss them. “You’re forgiven. Just don’t let it happen again.”
He sighs and leans forward, pressing his forehead to mine. “I won’t. Yes sirum yem k’ez.”
“You still haven’t told me what that means.”
“You already know, baby.” He pulls away, his fingertips trailing on mine. “Don’t worry about the passages for now. We’ll deal with that when there’s more time.”
I don’t argue. It’s clear he’s struggling with whatever happened today, and I’m worried that if I press, it’ll only make things worse. “If you need me, I’ll be upstairs in the library.”
“Good.” He hesitates. “I know it’s hard, but please, stay away from the forbidden wing for a few days.”
“What’s in there?”
“Just trust me. For once, stay away.” He gives me a long look and sighs, shaking his head. “You’re going to be trouble.”
“Never.”
I almost make it through the night.
Arsen doesn’t come to bed. Men keep coming and going. It’s clear whatever happened escalated things in the war. I spend the evening in the library and try to get some sleep, but I can’t make my eyes stay closed.
Not when something’s going on and I don’t know what.
I slip out around one in the morning. There are voices down in the kitchen. I creep past the stairs, find the secret latch on the library fireplace, and shimmy my way into the narrow passages in the walls.
It’s creepy as fuck at night. The rooms with lights on in them send some weak light streaming in little gaps. I use my phone to navigate and do my best not to make too much noise. At one point, I hear Tigran and Arsen arguing about something. Their voices are muffled, but I can tell Arsen’s not happy.
“…kill her now and be done with it,” Tigran says.
“I know your stance on this, brother, but we’re going to find a different solution first.”
“Garen’s not responding to our messengers. What makes you think he’ll even come to the table?”
“He’ll come. Give him time.”
“How much time?”
“As long as we need. Trust me, Tigran. Let this play out.”
Tigran’s frustrated response gets lost as the men move into a different room. I shuffle along, trying to keep pace with them, but eventually I get lost and have to backtrack.
The passages are hard to navigate, but I’m getting the hang of it. Years spent practicing urban exploring really come in handy. The dust and the mouse droppings don’t even bother me.
Well, not that much, anyway.
I follow the commotion and try to catch snatches of conversation. Eventually, I find myself on the far side of the house, and I realize I’m in the forbidden wing. I hadn’t even meant to cross that invisible line, but this is where most of the men are concentrated. Several guards are in the hall where Maud and I cleaned up the majority of the old blood.
“Make sure nobody bothers her,” Arsen says to one of them before leaving the wing again. I’m tempted to follow him, but what he said makes me pause.
Who is her?
Snippets of what I heard throughout the day start to coalesce. I crawl under a few loose boards, shift around a tight corner, and find myself in the walls outside of the old office where Arsen used to keep the bodies. The skeletons are long gone and the room’s mostly scrubbed clean now.
There’s a light on inside. I shuffle toward a narrow gap in some boards, but I have to stand on my toes to see through. I can just make out a person sitting in a chair—no, a woman tied to a chair—when I lose my balance and fall backwards into the wall behind me.
It thumps loudly and I freeze. My heart’s up in my throat. If anyone catches me in here, Arsen’s going to be pissed. And I won’t even blame him for being mad.
“Is someone there?”
A woman’s voice. Older, I’d guess in her sixties. Shit, she must’ve heard me.
“I know you’re there,” she says, louder this time. “Arsen, is that you? Or is it Tigran? Hiding in the walls like you used to?”
My breath’s coming fast. Arsen and Tigran used to explore these passageways? But of course they did. If they grew up in this place, there’s no way a couple of young boys would ever leave these tunnels alone. They’re way too fun and tempting. I’m a full grown adult pregnant woman and I can barely stay out of them. Forget about some dumb kids.
“No, it’s not either of you,” the woman says. “You two wouldn’t need to hide. Then who’s in the walls? Is it that old poisoner bitch? Or maybe someone else. Maybe it’s someone new to the house.”
I lean forward and squint into the room again.
Then jerk back in shock.
The woman’s looking over her shoulder. She’s got a big, vicious grin on her face, and she’s staring right at me.
“It’s you, isn’t it? The bitch that caused all this trouble?”
I nearly choke on my fear. How the hell did she know? How did she see me? I’m panicking and I’m about to run away, but I force myself to stop.
If I make more noise, she’ll be sure I’m here.
She’s just guessing right now. I bet she knows these passageways too, and she’s aware of where the hidden peepholes are. That must be Sona, Arsen’s aunt, which means she probably grew up in this house too.
I work up some courage and look back through the holes.
She’s still looking back at me, but it’s clear she can’t see anything. She looks like an aging movie star with crow’s feet and bad hair. But there’s a strange dignity about her too, despite being tied up.
“You’re not going to say anything. I understand. I’m guessing you’re not supposed to be here.” She laughs and it’s a wicked sound. “Poor Arsen really fucked up when he took you as his wife. He would’ve been happy with the girl we had picked out for him. A nice, obedient Armenian girl. She would’ve given him lots and lots of legitimate heirs. Instead of some disgusting half-Russian hybrid.”
She presses against her bonds. Anger surges in me. Why does this woman hate Russians so much? Why does she hate me, in particular? I had basically nothing to do with any of this. Arsen’s the one that turned his back on his arranged marriage and took me as his wife instead.
But clearly, Sona needs someone to blame, and it might as well be me.
She struggles again, rocking the chair so violently I think she might fall over. Then she stops, breathing hard.
“Still there, Russian bitch? If Arsen only knew the truth, he’d never have married you. But that’s the thing with families, isn’t it? We’ve all got skeletons in the closet. I think Arsen’s going to kill me soon, but maybe I can get the last word before I go. Maybe you should go looking around my old bedroom in those passages. You might find something interesting about your husband. You rotten Russian slut.”
I bang my fist against the wall, unable to help myself. Screw her, that nasty old woman. She’s trying to goad me, and it freaking worked.
She jerks sideways in surprise and the chair suddenly topples over. Her body hits the ground with a grunt. I scramble backwards as she lets out a horrible shriek and flops sideways on the floor.
The guards bang open the doors to check on her, but I’m already racing back toward the library.
What the hell did she mean back there? What does she know about Arsen? Obviously, Sona’s just messing with me, but my curiosity’s going insane. This family is filled with dark secrets, and I get the sense I’m only scratching the surface.
Only problem is, I can’t tell Arsen about any of this.
He’ll be pissed that I disobeyed him again and risked my safety. I want to find out which room was Sona’s, but there’s no real way without Arsen figuring out what I was up to. Which means I’ll either ignore Sona’s weird little challenge back there, or I’ll have to search every single passageway, one after the other, painstakingly trying to find—
I don’t even know what I’m looking for.
Arsen’s brushing his teeth in the bathroom when I slip back into our room. He looks at me with a strange frown as I settle myself under the blankets. I’m nervous and my head’s spinning, and I flinch when he sits down beside me.
“Can’t sleep?” he asks.
“Took a little walk.”
“Getting into trouble?”
“No. Never.”
He reaches down and brushes my hair. Then he frowns at his hand.
There’s a cobweb in his fingers.
We look at each other for a long moment. Then I give him a big, manic grin, and he only sighs and shakes his head like there’s not much he can do, and I don’t tell him where I was when he gets into bed.
But Sona lodged an idea in my obsessive little head, and there’s no way I’m going to stop thinking about it until I’ve figured out her secret.
