Chapter Six House Beneath the Bells #3
Serrano's breathing came through the speaker.
"Joseph lied to you."
"Apparently everyone did."
"But Joseph's lies killed people too."
Naomi's eyes narrowed.
"Prove it."
Beatrice turned sharply.
Elias closed his eyes.
That reaction told Naomi more than Serrano's words.
"There it is," Serrano said softly.
"You see them."
Naomi looked around.
"What?"
"The faces of people who know."
Serrano's voice became almost tender.
"Ask Elias what Joseph did the night you were born."
Naomi turned toward her grandfather.
Elias did not look at her.
"What did Dad do?"
Amara whispered, "Naomi."
She looked at her mother.
"You know too."
Amara's face broke.
Naomi stepped back.
"Tell me."
No one spoke.
Naomi raised her voice.
"Tell me."
Elias finally looked at her.
"Joseph saved your life."
"That is not an answer."
"He made a choice."
"What choice?"
Elias's voice grew quieter.
"There were two babies."
Naomi stopped breathing.
Lucas stared.
Amara closed her eyes.
The entire chamber seemed to shrink.
Naomi whispered,
"What?"
Serrano's voice returned through the speaker.
"Ask them about your brother."
Naomi's knees nearly gave out.
Lucas caught her around the waist.
She pushed herself upright.
"My what?"
Amara was crying now.
Naomi looked at her.
"Mom."
It was the first time the word came automatically for Amara.
It hurt both women.
Amara covered her mouth.
Naomi stepped closer.
"Did I have a brother?"
Amara nodded.
Once.
Naomi stared.
"A twin?"
Another nod.
The world tilted.
Lucas held her.
Naomi barely felt him.
"What happened to him?"
Amara shook her head.
"I don't know."
Naomi's voice cracked.
"What do you mean you don't know?"
"They took him."
"Who?"
Amara looked toward Elias.
Naomi turned.
Elias looked older than he had ten minutes earlier.
"I did."
Silence.
Naomi's face emptied.
"You took my brother."
"I believed I was protecting him."
"Where is he?"
"I don't know."
Naomi stared.
Then she slapped him.
The sound echoed through the archive.
Ross did not move.
Lucas did not move.
Beatrice looked away.
Elias's face turned with the impact.
He slowly looked back toward Naomi.
She was shaking.
"You stole a baby."
"Yes."
"From your own daughter."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because Mateo knew you existed."
Serrano shouted through the speaker.
"I knew both of them existed!"
Amara flinched.
Elias ignored him.
"He demanded the children."
"Both?"
"Yes."
"I believed separating you was the only way to save one."
Naomi's eyes filled.
"One?"
Elias's voice broke for the first time.
"I was wrong."
Naomi took another step back.
Her brother.
A twin.
Somewhere.
Possibly dead.
Possibly alive.
Possibly raised by people connected to this nightmare.
She looked toward the steel door.
Three symbols.
Elias.
Serrano.
Naomi.
Not enough.
There should have been four.
"Does the House know?"
Elias nodded.
"Yes."
"Then why isn't he a claimant?"
Beatrice answered quietly.
"Because no one knows whether he survived."
Serrano's voice came through again.
"I do."
Everyone froze.
Naomi looked toward the speaker.
"What did you say?"
"I know your brother survived."
Amara stepped toward the wall.
"Mateo."
His voice turned almost gentle.
"I found him."
Naomi's heart slammed.
"When?"
"Twenty-six years ago."
"Where is he?"
Serrano paused.
Then laughed softly.
"Now we're finally ready to negotiate."
Lucas looked toward Naomi.
Her face changed.
The fear disappeared.
So did the confusion.
What remained was fury.
Naomi stepped toward the speaker.
"You listen to me."
Serrano became silent.
"If my brother is alive, you tell me where he is."
"No conditions?"
"No."
"You misunderstand your position."
Naomi's voice lowered.
"No. You misunderstand mine."
Lucas watched her.
So did everyone else.
Naomi continued.
"You've spent thirty years believing blood makes people yours."
"It doesn't."
"You thought being a Taylor meant something was stolen from you."
"You thought being my biological father meant I belonged to you."
"You thought my brother could become leverage."
Her hand closed around her pendant.
"But you forgot something."
Serrano said nothing.
"I was raised by Joseph James."
Silence.
"And he taught me that fear only works when the other person believes you have something they cannot survive losing."
Her voice sharpened.
"I have survived losing almost everything already."
Lucas's eyes filled.
Naomi stared at the speaker.
"So if you want to negotiate, Mateo, understand this first."
She paused.
"My brother is not your bargaining chip."
The speaker went dead.
No answer.
No laughter.
Nothing.
Naomi stood breathing hard.
Then somewhere beyond the steel door, a mechanism clicked.
A fourth symbol appeared between the others.
One no one had seen before.
A broken bluebird wing.
Elias stared.
Beatrice whispered,
"No."
Naomi looked toward her.
"What?"
Beatrice's face had gone pale.
"The House recognizes him."
Lucas frowned.
"Recognize who?"
Beatrice looked at Naomi.
"Your brother."
A deep bell sounded overhead.
Three times.
The third bell.
And for the first time since the trial began, the entire monastery went dark.