Chapter 44
I can’t read Luci’s expression, so I keep my approach slow and my voice calm. “What do you mean? Why should I not have come?”
“I don’t know. It doesn’t matter.” She furrows her brow and stares at the floor.
I believe Luci can be trusted, that she wouldn’t cause me any harm, but I’m not sure how much she knows about her family’s dark history. I can’t rely on her empathy. Can’t be sure I won’t lose out to family loyalty.
“Luci, do you know what’s happening?”
She shakes her head, still refusing to look at me.
“I came here because I need your help.” I blow out a breath and cut to the heart. “I think I’m in danger.”
Her head whips up. “What? Why?”
I can’t tell her everything. Not yet. “Did you come into my apartment? Did you leave the book for me to find?”
She tilts her head, confusion plain on her face. “No, I never—what book?”
“Carmilla. It’s an older story about—”
“I know the story.” Her skin turns white as I watch. “No. It wasn’t me.” Wringing her hands, she turns away and then back to me again. “Oh, no. I was afraid of this.”
“Afraid of what?” I ask, trying to catch her eye as she starts pacing back and forth.
“I had a feeling something was wrong. He acted the same way when . . .” She stops moving and stares, her next words chilling me to the bone. “You have to leave. You need to get away from Maison Marteau.”
“I can’t.”
“You have to. I wasn’t sure before, about Rose. But now I am.” She shuts her lips, clenches her fists. “Come. I’ll take you out.”
She pushes past me, but I grab her arm. “No, listen to me. I want to leave, but I can’t. The gates are locked, and my phone isn’t working, either. I think someone’s using a jammer.”
I don’t want to spook her, but I have to make her understand the urgency. “Someone is trying to keep me here. And I need your help.”
Releasing my hold on her, I glance around the bedroom. “Is there a landline in the house? A way to call for help? I tried before, but the emergency lines were busy. But maybe you can call someone else. Someone you trust.”
“No.”
Fear twists in my gut, and I face her again. “You won’t help me?”
She moves to the bed and sits on the edge. “I mean, there’s no one to call. No one will stand up to my family.”
So she does know something. But how much?
Her bottom lip trembles, and her shoulders have folded in. She seems so fragile, but I can’t let her disappear into herself. I need to reach her somehow.
Easing closer, I choose my words with care. “Did Rose try to stand up to them?”
Luci bites her lip and clenches her eyes. “I don’t know. But she was asking me a lot of questions before she left.”
I draw a deep breath and say out loud what she already suspects. “Are you sure she left? Or did something bad happen?”
She claps her hands over her ears and shakes her head. “No, no. Please, don’t make me think about it. I hate him. I hate him. He knew how I felt about her, and he . . . he . . .”
I don’t press her, but she continues anyway, as if she needs to tell the truth as badly as I need to hear it. “I knew something was wrong. I knew it. The way he looked at her.”
Luci swallows and rubs her mouth. “I told her to stop, to not make trouble.” A sob breaks free, and tears trickle down her cheeks. “But she must have, and I think something happened to her.”
Luci’s teary eyes meet mine. “Because she wouldn’t leave me behind.”
Lowering my voice, I speak gently, worried the words could shatter her. “Her sister thinks someone in your family hurt Rose.”
I don’t know what reaction I expect, but I’m surprised when Luci nods. “I do, too.”
“Do you know why?”
She buries her face in her hands and cries great, heaving sobs. Finally, she gulps in a breath and says, “Because I loved her. But he would never allow that. He would never allow anyone else to get close.”
“Who?” I touch her knee. “Luci, who wouldn’t?”
She shakes her head and licks her lips. “No. I can’t.”
“Luci, tell me.”
“I can’t. I’ll be punished. And so will you.” She lunges at me and starts dragging me toward the door. “Please, get out now. While you can. I can get the gates open.”
“Good, good.” I take her hand. “Then we can run and get help.”
She pulls her hand free. “I can’t go with you.”
“Yes, you can.” I wrap my arms around her in a gentle hug. She shakes in my arms like a baby bird. “You have to come with me, Luci, because I’m not leaving you alone.”
The way I left Mackenzie.
Clearing my throat, I tell her the rest. About the journal, the dark tourist forum, Lina Ivarrson. And someone using Rose’s phone to post on her account.
“I think Alice is in trouble now, and we can’t abandon her.”
“Alice?” She stumbles back, her mouth open in shock. “Rose’s sister?”
“Yes. Someone messaged me pretending to be her.” When she doesn’t speak, I try to sway her emotions. “Rose would want you to help Alice, and she would want you to be safe.”
“But I am safe.”
“No, you’re not.” I take her hands in mine. “I don’t know who you’re afraid of, Luci, but you don’t have to stay here. Not with him.”
She’s not budging, so I have to push harder. “Luci, I saw the polaroids. The pictures taken in the library.”
She backs up and tries to pull away, but I won’t let go. “Luci, I know what happened to you.”