Chapter 31 WORDS BETWEEN SHELVES #2
It’s the music box from all those years ago. The one I never got. It disappeared from the shop along with Kian.
“Twelve petals,” I whisper, my mind transported far away. “One for each month. Everlasting love.”
My vision blurs. I twist the dial on the side.
The beautiful, melancholic notes of “Für Elise” float to my ears.
Our song. Kian and Elise.
How does he know?
Sobs rack me. I slide to the floor, thinking about the boy from long ago, the only man I’ve ever loved.
How does Elias know? How does the bloodthirsty Shadow King know about the boy with a kind heart who wanted to become a vet?
I gasp and set the music box on the floor. Does Elias know where he is? My Kian? Does he know what happened to him?
I shoot up, the song still playing, soft and cruel, as I run for the door.
My feet fly down the two flights of stairs; my heart lodged in my throat.
Where is he? Where’s the maddening man when I need him?
I throw open the office door, finding the room dark, the devil nowhere to be seen.
“What’s going on, dear?” Hannah calls from the doorway.
“Where is he? Elias?” I grab her shoulders. She blinks, startled. “He’s here, right?”
I could’ve sworn he was here, the blinking red light and all.
“Mr. Kent? He went to the basement after a call. Seemed agitated.”
The basement?
I rarely venture down there. I’m not a big fan of dark spaces. I thank Hannah and bolt past her, past the utility hall and the guard station. The nondescript black door next to the laundry gives as I shove it open.
My feet pound the stone steps, past the wine cellar, to the small office in the back.
No one’s here.
I clutch my hair, my gaze pinballing around the space. Bookshelf. Desk. Wet bar. This makes no sense. He couldn’t have just vanished.
Then I feel it.
A thread of air grazes my ankle.
My breath grows thready as I force myself to quiet, to listen.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
It’s faint, but there. Then there’s the chilly breeze.
There has to be a hidden passageway. It’s Saints Hollow—of course there are tunnels underground.
Determination rushes through me. I tear through the room, tossing books from shelves, looking under the desk, the chair, feeling for any hidden latches or buttons.
Just when despair seizes me, I freeze, my fingers catching on a recess behind the one book I didn’t think he’d have.
The Bible.
The bookshelf swings open, revealing a stone tunnel dimly lit by caged bulbs.
My palms sweat, the hairs rising on my forearms. I feel it—the answer to a puzzle I’ve been trying to solve. Something I was not aware I was even searching for before.
I hasten my steps, my footfalls light as I make my way down the stairs. The air thins and grows frigid. The sounds are louder.
Groans and grunts. Someone yelling. A crash.
I shouldn’t be here, my mind warns me, every instinct telling me to turn around and flee.
But I press forward, beckoned by a past I can’t let go of.
The boy with soft green eyes and a beautiful smile who complained about his height.
I bet he’d be tall now.
With memories of Kian making me brave, I follow the curve of the tunnel, finally to a room with a door cracked open, light blazing from the gap. Voices sharpen.
“Please! Mr. Kent—”
“The kill ledgers. Who has access?” Elias bellows.
I flinch at the hatred in his voice.
“Th-The Berishas. They move them. The Six all have copies.”
What is Elias looking for? What’s his endgame?
I press my body against the wall, inching toward the room.
A loud smack. Choking sounds. Metal scraping stone.
“You won’t make it out alive. Make your death useful. Where are the ledgers?”
Another blow. I flinch, nausea flooding me.
“Tell me,” Elias rasps, “and I’ll spare your wife and kids.”
I recoil in horror, my fingers digging into the crude stones that have seen too much over the years.
Run, Lana. Run.
My feet root to the ground.
Instead, I’m driven by a need to see the truth of my husband, the Shadow King I made the mistake of thinking could have a soft side.
I push the door a fraction wider.
My heart stops at the visual before me.
Elias is stripped of his jacket and tie, his white dress shirt drenched in sweat and blood. His eyes feral, teeth baring as he hoists a man up by his throat.
The man grunts as Elias drives a knife up beneath his ribs.
Crimson sprays the devil’s shirt.
“Time is ticking. Answers now. If you die before you tell me, your family perishes.”
“The B-Benefaction!” the man gurgles, eyes swollen, face barely recognizable. “They’ll have a copy there. Th-That’s all I know. Please—”
A sick, twisted smile curves Elias’s lips, his scar marred by blood spatter.
My hand slips on the doorknob. I stumble inside.
Elias’s cold, flat eyes snag mine, then flare with shock.
“H-Help me!” the man screams.
“Out!” Elias roars, grabbing the gun off the table.
Horrified, I spin around just as a shot explodes through the air. The man collapses, the thud echoing in my mind.
I burst through the door, fleeing the way I came.
Strains of “Für Elise” warp with sounds of murder as tears fall down my cheeks.
I not only married a monster.
I married a hellish nightmare, and I don’t know how I’m supposed to survive this.