Chapter 32
Josh
Iglanced at Elijah as we stepped clear of the hovercar.
He’d been oddly silent the entire drive, nor had he asked why I hadn’t let the car take us directly to the house.
I’d explained anyway that the security would have killed any lycanthrope to set foot on the premises.
That now included me, which meant that particular protocol had to be manually eradicated from the system at the external control unit, which was conveniently located at the front gate.
I’d considered having Lombardi make the correction, but I felt better doing it myself.
Still, Elijah’s silence was troubling. Perhaps Remus was right, and he just needed time to adjust. The last year had been especially stressful, and taking on a responsibility he’d been dodging nearly half his life wouldn’t have helped.
I could understand that he didn’t want to be in charge of a pack, but did that mean he expected me to give up mine as well?
A pack of three wasn’t much, but it was mine, and I owed them more than walking away without an explanation.
It wasn’t something we’d talked about as we boxed up the cabin, despite the fact that it was still his by right.
We didn’t talk about it on the drive to Portland or on the wait for an available portal.
Nor did we even speak on the ride here to my family estate and what would now be our home.
I sighed to myself and walked up the path towards the gate.
Elijah sped up and fell in step beside me. “You okay, moonbeam?”
I longed to ask him what he was thinking in regards to his pack.
Did his thoughts mirror mine? Was he worried what Conrad would do in his absence?
Was he serious about not taking control…
ever? I shook my head and stepped towards the control panel embedded in the ancient brick pillar holding an equally antiquated iron gate. “I need to take care of this.”
I dug deep into the core programming and deleted the directive to instantly kill any lycan that set foot on the premises from Atlas’s system.
It would take a more thorough sweep from the control room inside the house to make sure no subsequent programs were lurking in the code that could cause mischief.
While I was at it, I went ahead and turned off the rest of the main security as well.
The things from the cottage would be arriving before long, and I didn’t want to be troubled about the delivery.
The gate swung open, and I closed the panel. “There.”
We got all of five meters up the drive when Elijah released a low whistle.
“What?”
“This is your house?”
I looked back at the enormous structure sprawled out before us.
Turrets rose gracefully from the ground, connected by tall walls peppered with windows and balconies.
The deep red of the bricks resisted the fade of time beneath an overcast sky.
It was a veritable modern-day castle, stained red from the blood of our victims. No amount of stunning architecture or carefully cultivated gardens would ever make up for the atrocities this place had spawned.
As far as I knew, this house had never known joy, only pain. Hopefully, that would change now.
I glanced at Elijah, suddenly anxious. “Do you like it?”
“Like it. Stars, Josh, look at this place.” He gestured at the grand estate, and I tried to see it through his eyes.
Painstaking care had been taken with the elegant sweep of the roof. Despite its blood-drenched history, the grand structure was built to be inviting, a place to come together. With enormous living spaces and two ballrooms, it was a house meant for parties and laughter.
“It’s magnificent,” Elijah reiterated.
A smile tugged at the corner of my mouth at the praise and the light shining in his eyes. It was the first time I’d seen that spark in days.
“How many people stay here?”
“What do you mean? You know I’m the last.”
He rolled his eyes and pulled me forward. “Yeah, but you can’t possibly live in such a big place on your own. The staff alone must be at least…” He trailed off when I stopped moving. “What is it?”
“I have staff come to clean twice a month. There’s even a chef that prepares meals for the week, but none of them live here.” All thirty-seven bedrooms were completely vacant. All save one.
Elijah
I couldn’t believe what Josh was saying. This house was massive, like fit the entire Texas Pack massive, and he lived here alone? No wonder he didn’t trust people. When was the last time he’d actually spent any real time with them?
His eyes clouded with the same doubt I could smell weaving through his scent.
I quickly snapped my mouth shut and pulled him close to press our lips together, then stepped back.
“What was that for?”
“I’m just excited for this next step in our life. Don’t think I forgot about our conversation in that cell. We’re going to fill this place up with the pitter-patter of so many little feet that people will have to live here just to help us keep up with them all.”
A smile Josh was clearly fighting tugged at his lips. He didn’t have to say out loud how much that promise appealed to him; it shone in his eyes.
I planted another kiss on him. “Now show me around our new home.” I knew Josh hadn’t been happy about leaving the cottage.
He certainly made enough of an argument to stay.
But not even the surprise that I actually owned the place could keep me in Adler Springs.
To my relief, Josh’s reluctant smile finally slipped free.
He laced our fingers and led us to the front door.
It wasn’t until he opened the aged wooden door banded with iron and stepped inside that where we were finally sank in.
Josh stood in a massive foyer, every bit as grand as the outside of the building.
Deep, rich colors climbed the walls, decorated with equally dark wood paneling and detailing.
A masterpiece of a stairway crawled grandly up the right wall to connect with a balcony that encircled the room.
Faint outlines of dozens of doors peeked out from the shadows.
I know those doors.
An overwhelming sadness seized my heart. Josh lived alone in a house that had haunted his nightmares since he was a child. Not so much as a live-in butler to keep him company, only a soulless AI to keep him safe. And I’d forced him to come back.
The happy expression I’d coaxed out of him melted away. “Is something wrong?”
An apology stuck in my throat as I continued to absorb the space.
Ornate vases and frames filled with landscapes cluttered the walls.
Somewhere in this mausoleum of a house there would be a wall filled with portraits of all the Harkers that had come before Josh, staring down in scorn at all who passed by.
But here there was nothing that stood out as uniquely Josh, nothing at all.
What have I done?
My gaze caught on the stairs and the deep crimson carpet runner leading the way up to the next level.
There’s one thing here that’s Josh’s.
I didn’t offer an explanation as I vaulted up the stairs, my tread nearly silent on the plush material as I ascended.
“Elijah?” Josh called after me.
At the landing, I glanced left and right.
I knew these doors, had seen them all before, but I only needed one.
On pure instinct, I turned down the nearest corridor, Josh’s voice chasing me the whole way.
The halls twisted and turned in what was probably a logical layout, but I had to stop multiple times to regain my bearings.
His mind had been a straight corridor of never-ending doors, not a veritable labyrinth.
At last, the door I sought came into view.
Lighter trim created delicate patterns on the wood, though the door itself seemed darker than all the others. That was likely a figment of my imagination because I knew what had transpired behind it. Either way, I knew without a doubt I’d reached my destination and turned the knob.
Ambient lights automatically gave the room a comfortable glow.
For a moment, I doubted my certainty. The maps on the wall, which I remembered so clearly, were now stunning photographs of nature.
The wall of weaponry, so inappropriate for a child’s room, was now resplendent with shelves upon shelves of books.
I looked around the familiar, yet drastically different room.
I’d witnessed horrible things take place here, but I’d also seen something truly special as well.
Finally, my gaze fell on the opulent marble fireplace.
No flames burned there now, but everything else about it was exactly as I remembered from my time in Josh's mind.
As I walked towards it, Josh slid into the doorway.
“How the hell did you know this was my room? I haven’t been here in over a year,” he panted from where he stood braced against the doorjamb.
I glanced at him and twisted an intricate piece of molding decorating the fireplace. “You forget, I’ve been in your head.”
His eyes widened at the same time that the secret panel slid back to reveal a deceptively large compartment. He stepped into the room, his body rigid with trepidation. “Do I want to know what else you saw in there?”
“Probably not. But this,” I reached in and gently removed the contents, “this I think you’ll want to remember.”
His brow scrunched in confusion as I passed him the stuffed wolf. “What is this?”
Josh
I stared at the plush animal in my hands. Something about it tugged at my memory. I carefully brushed off some of the dust to reveal gray fur and a copper streak running from the head down the spine.
I looked up. “I don’t understand.”
Elijah’s smile turned sad. “I was really hoping that holding him again would trigger something.”