Tethered

Chapter 29 Bitterness #2

“What the fuck, Dominik? I’m gonna take you to fucking court, and I’m gonna fucking ruin you, even if it bankrupts me.”

“You weren’t supposed to find out. It was only to make sure you were both doing okay.”

“Then you pick up a fucking slate!” Now, I really do scream. It scrapes my throat the whole way up, but I vent my frustration until I’m breathless. Something bangs against the door and Dominik swears, whatever he says muffled by my screaming.

I sink into a crouch, letting my head hang between my knees. All of this is making me dizzy, and my neck still hurts from earlier. “Stop pretending you care about him,” I moan.

“Of course I care about him, but I recognise that he’s always been my way in with you. From the very beginning, you chose him over me.”

I snap, shooting to my feet, lightheaded and furious. My whole body trembles and I have to swallow twice to get my words out.

“You’ve been using Vee like a pawn.”

“To his benefit.”

I shake my head. “To your benefit!”

Dominik’s voice changes, becoming more hesitant as he tries to talk his way out of this. “You’re misunderstanding me.”

But I’m definitely not. There’s no way Vee and I can stay here. The company transfer was troubling, but I’d been hoping something could be done when I got my hands on the contract. We’re beyond that now.

I grab my bag off the desk, unlock the door and yank it open. Dominik falls inside the room, yelling, and I hop over his hulking body and take off down the hall. I don’t look back as I hurry to the other wing, making a beeline for Vee’s room.

Halfway down the hallway, a door opens. Tanisira shoots out, clutching something dark and blocky.

She leaps back and I swerve, just about avoiding a collision.

Over her shoulder, a man lies hog-tied on the floor with an abundance of cables.

Too much is happening, my heart is racing, and I don’t have the time to ask questions.

I shut the door on him, snag Tanisira’s elbow and tow her towards Vee’s room.

Shoving her in ahead of me, I lock the door behind us.

“Captain Sekmith!”

Tanisira manages to place the object down a second before Vee barrels into her. The expression on her face would be enough to undo me if I weren’t already riddled with adrenaline.

Banging at the door interrupts before I can ask her why she’s still here.

Tanisira steps in front of Vee, gently pushing him back. My heart hiccups painfully. But I don’t have time to process it because Dominik starts yelling my name.

Vee’s eyes widen. “Is that Dad?”

I push a finger to my lips and back up until we form a triangle, with me by Tanisira’s side. It’s stupid because Dominik obviously knows we’re in here, but I don’t want Vee getting dragged into it.

“You’re still here.” I say, shooting a glance at Tanisira. “Did you have a plan of some sort?”

She grimaces. “Yes, but it requires us getting downstairs.”

The door stops shaking in its frame, and in the lull, Tanisira retreats to the window. She slides it open and peers out before sliding it shut again. I watch her tap her fingers along the inside of her wrist whilst she considers something, and then she sighs.

“We’re not that high up, but I wouldn’t risk it with Vee.”

I’m lucky Tanisira’s still here because if she wasn’t, I’d probably be trying to lower Vee out that very window right now. I cock an eyebrow. “You could do it, though?”

She looks past me to the strange box on the bed. “Not with that.”

“What is it?” Vee asks quietly. His eyes are still wide, and he slipped his hand into mine a few moments ago, but he doesn’t sound afraid.

“It’s a projector. I have an idea to get—” Tanisira glances at him and back at me. “Us out of here.”

“Why are we hiding from Dad?”

I press a kiss to the top of his head. “Promise I’ll tell you later.”

With a roll of his eyes, Vee belly flops onto the bed and prods at the projector.

The bed itself is an ancient, four-poster behemoth and probably shouldn’t be jumped on.

The whole room is a picture in absurd wealth: silk-upholstered furniture, floral wallpaper, mahogany embellishments, and gilt mirrors.

Across from the bed is a marbled fireplace Vee could probably walk into without hitting his head.

Tanisira takes this opportunity to pull me towards the window. I feel uneasy that Dominik has gone silent, but I can’t stand there staring at the door all night. I’m very glad for the distraction.

“I figured out how to play the call with Gryphon on the projector. If we get downstairs, I can get it on one of the ballroom’s walls and expose his threats.”

Stunned, I’m rendered speechless. “That’s why you’re still here?”

Tanisira looks slightly wary. “To take you home.” My heart does something odd in my chest at her choice of words, but I push through it. She continues, “But it seems like you would have figured it yourself.”

“Yeah.” I gesture towards the door. “All figured out. Obviously.”

But my joke goes over her head; she’s watching me with an intensity that makes me feel breathless. “You were leaving, weren’t you?” She asks.

“Vee deserves better than this,” I reply, throwing my arms out. “Than him.”

Tanisira exhales slowly, and the inscrutable expression in her amber eyes deepens. “You’re so incredibly brave.”

I can’t.

If I let her crack me open right now, all of me will spill out—good for nothing except tarnishing the floor. I can’t. So I step away from her, from her intoxicating scent, her tempting embrace. Her expression shutters, which I tell myself is good, even though it hurts.

Forcing myself to notice literally anything else, I focus at the bloodstains on her hands. Now that I’m paying attention, her dress is ripped at the hem and her hair—loose and pretty earlier—has been hastily wound into a braided bun. She actually looks like she’s been in a fight this time.

That guy in the room may be subdued, but he clearly didn’t go quietly. Still, I frown.

“What—”

A grating noise draws our attention, both of our heads snapping towards the place of origin. I watch in horror as the fireplace starts to slide outwards, just like a doorway.

“Cool!” Vee cries, leaping to his feet, nearly knocking the projector onto the floor.

I grab him and pull him into my side. Did Dominik find another way in?

Tanisira must have the same thought because she steps in front of us.

I wish I could be more useful, but the best thing in this situation is to let the person who knows what she’s doing handle it. Dominik isn’t a brawler, but he’s big.

The fireplace stops a quarter of the way in its possible arc, and someone who is decidedly not Dominik pokes her head into the room.

I recognise her, and it curdles my stomach; the security team’s been sent to get us.

There’s nothing I can grab to use in defence unless I try to yank a portrait off the wall and hit Mae with it.

In panic, I look to Tanisira, feeling weak and pretty useless.

But she relaxes from her fighting stance and smiles— smiles—at Mae. I can’t make sense of it. Then I notice there’s no one else behind Mae.

“You guys coming or...?” She smirks.

She’s with us?

Tanisira collects the projector before limping over, sparing a moment to pat Mae on the shoulder before slipping through.

I catch the way Mae touches her fingertips to Tanisira’s hand.

It’s interesting; I have questions. But I usher Vee ahead, following behind.

It’s drafty and narrow, and once Mae pulls the fireplace back into alignment we’re plunged into darkness.

Fuck knows what lives back here, so I’m glad for it—a spider running across my foot would just be the last straw right now.

No one speaks. As we move through the corridors, faint murmurs drift through the walls. I can’t help thinking that back in the day, the help must have had great gossip.

“How did you find out about this?” Tanisira whispers.

Mae’s the lead, guiding us with the tiniest light I’ve ever seen. I can barely see the unfinished plaster walls—a noticeable contrast to the marbled brick of the mansion’s exterior— and the rough stone underfoot. The light illuminates one of her shoulders as she shrugs.

“Big houses, old houses, sometimes had these secret passages. It’s a Tellurian thing.”

“To keep the servants hidden?” Tanisira asks dryly.

“Exactly.”

I chime in. “And you just stumbled upon it?”

“No, I asked the groundsman. He’s been working at the mansion for twenty years. He was offered a relocation package and shipped over with it.”

“Did he give you a map?” Vee asks with barely restrained excitement.

Mae laughs very quietly. “No, just directions. And I had to write them down on my hand because it was confusing.”

Vee laughs, and I can tell he thinks she’s on our side whereas I’m not so sure. Considering she and her colleague frogmarched us off the Midas and delivered us to Dominik, I’m simply confused.

We troop down a narrow set of stairs and around several corners before Mae comes to a stop. It seems random, but she crouches and pulls a lever I didn’t notice. With a click, light seeps through new apertures in the wall.

“Wait here,” she says, pushing the makeshift door open just wide enough to slide through. Music and laughter pour through the crack, and I get a glimpse of the golden lamp-lit walls of a hall.

As soon as Mae disappears, I pull Tanisira aside. “How did you get her to help?”

“She offered.” In the faint glow, Tanisira can still see my scepticism.

She shrugs. “I didn’t have many other options.

Gryphon hasn’t had time to rig the manor up completely, but whatever he does have in place would be impossible to hack, even if I didn’t have rudimentary knowledge.

I needed the projector, and I needed help getting it downstairs unseen. ”

Don’t say it don’t say it don’t say—

“She seems a little into you,” I say, sounding very casual.

Tanisira tilts her head, and even though her expression doesn’t change, my stomach knots itself up.

I need the house to collapse on top of me now.

Jealousy would be stupid. Just downright silly. Unfortunately, my stupid, silly little heart doesn’t care.

Tanisira doesn’t get a chance to put me out of my misery because Mae pops back in. She widens the doorway, and more light spills into the tiny space. Her face is flushed, making her freckles and pale eye stand out starkly.

“What happened out there?” I ask.

“Come on,” she breathes, noticeably short of air.

I take Vee’s hand as he scrambles to follow, pulling him back until Tanisira goes first. When we step into the dining hall, it’s empty, and the doors that stood open all night are now closed.

It’s stunning—as chandelier laden as the ballroom, but with a parquet floor and an enormous banquet table.

It’s just as big, and could probably hold most of the guests if we really packed them in.

“I know you wanted the ballroom, but can you set up in here instead?” Mae asks.

Behind us, a section of wall stands at an angle, hung with the portrait of a hunting scene. She pushes it shut, and it becomes indistinguishable with the quietest click.

Tanisira puts the projector down on an old sideboard. “I can make it work, but we’ll need to get everyone in here before I start the video. I don’t know if I’ll have long enough to replay it before someone reaches us.”

I speak up. “I can get them in here.”

She glances at me.

“Dominik’s not some brute; he’s not going to haul me off the second he sees me.”

Tanisira raises an eyebrow, but I continue, “He acts differently when other people are around.”

“Fine.” She turns to Vee. “Do you want to help me set this up? I know you like vintage things.”

My heart can’t take it. Vee’s expression perks up, and he zooms over to the sideboard as Mae hands Tanisira her slate.

She’s wearing the least amount of clothes I’ve ever seen her in, and clearly doesn’t have pockets—Gaia forbid a dress come with those—so Mae’s obviously just being helpful.

I still scowl over my shoulder, hating that I can’t trust her intentions, but trusting that Tanisira knows what she’s doing.

We coordinate timing and then I head for the locked doors, slinking into the entryway.

The noise out here is startling, the number of bodies a welcome shield for me to manoeuvre through.

I’d prefer to take these skyscraper heels off but I’m scared some wobbly heiress will step on my bare foot with a stiletto.

It’s amazing how stark the difference is between the poised crowd I looked out on earlier and the giggling, hedonistic people now: those who lounge on the stairs, lean against expensive portraits and grope each other in corners.

Hopefully, not all of them are too drunk to realise what they’re watching when we get them in the dining hall.

As I glance over my shoulder, a man stumbles onto the middle landing of the staircase; dressed in black and trailing what looks like ropes or—no, those are cables.

His temples are liberally streaked with grey, and his face is smeared with crimson.

Chest heaving, his brow is thunderous. He starts to survey the people in the entryway, and I throw myself through the doorway of the ballroom, pulse rocketing.

The guests are more tightly packed here, and I’m shaking so hard I feel faint, making it harder to push through them.

Eduard was the man Tanisira tied up. Now he’s loose and he’s pissed. Tanisira’s ripped dress and limping gait flash through my mind. I can’t even imagine how a fight between them would have looked—seeing the state he’s in, I’m glad she isn’t more seriously hurt.

I start to force my way to the front of the room, pushing back against all the sweat slicked bodies.

I need to get everyone moving before Eduard seeks out Tanisira again.

I’m worried Mae could turn on us at any moment, and it makes me anxious that she’s alone in there with my two favourite people.

Once guests start flooding the dining hall, though, I doubt anyone will be able to reach her until it empties again.

Vee will be back behind the secret doorway, but it’s still terrifying.

I push harder, stomping on feet and throwing elbows, until I finally reach the quartet.