As it turned out,Christian hadn’t taken Ronald to the wine cellar after all. Anticipating that Lenore might charm either Viktor or me into revealing Ronald’s location, he led the human to a basement at the back of Keystone that even I wasn’t aware of. I’d seen the door a dozen times, but we had a number of locked doors.
“How did you know this was here?” I asked as he turned the knob.
“I walk these halls at night. I can hear a hollow sound in there that’s the same as the entrance of the gym and climbing room. I’ve never been in here until today,” he added, leading us down the steps.
Viktor walked between us with a lantern in his hand.
Christian glanced back at Viktor. “Sorry I entered without permission. I was afraid if you knew weweren’tgoing to the wine cellar, Lenore might have noticed your anxiety. I had Blue pick the lock earlier when I started going over the plan in my head.”
“You did a smart thing,” Viktor commended. “Confrontations are unpredictable. I am glad she chose to leave without him.”
I waited on the steps while Christian lifted a metal latch on the door at the base of the stairs. “I think Lenore wanted to get out of Dodge. We took her by surprise, and she was probably afraid the rest of the team would come rushing in when they heard all the noise.”
Viktor raised the lantern when we reached the bottom of the steps, his voice filled with reverence. “I keep these rooms locked for a reason. Keystone is filled with many family heirlooms that are precious to me. So precious. When I took over this property, I kept everything. I simply moved them into storage rooms, and I do not want anyone going through them.” He nodded at Christian. “Open the door.”
When we walked into the underground room, I understood why Viktor had made a short speech. This basement wasn’t massive by any means. A path cut straight through the middle, and on either side were heartbreaking keepsakes. Rocking horses, crates filled with handmade toys and dollies, stacks of knitted blankets and beautiful quilts. Cobwebs covered standing mirrors similar to the ones in our bedrooms, and instead of paintings on the walls, there were wooden plaques. Each one had a name and paw print carved in it. Plaques that I easily imagined might have been hanging on each door, because some of them had multiple names connected by small chains.
Christian led us straight down the middle to the back where we found Ronald. His legs were bound with rope all the way up to his thighs, preventing him from bending his knees. He lay on his side, his swollen hands tied behind his back with cable cord.
“You didn’t knock him in the head, did you?” I asked.
“I gave him a temporary condition,” Christian explained while he untied Ronald’s hands. After propping him to a seated position, he knelt down and looked him in the eyes. “Banana.”
Ronald blinked a few times. Vampires could bury memories or get people to do something where it could only be undone by a key word. It had happened to me once.
Butbanana?
Ronald looked up at us in confusion before rubbing his discolored hands. “I don’t understand what’s going on.”
Christian stood and sighed. “They never do.” After dragging a chair over, he lifted Ronald as if he weighed nothing and sat him in the seat. Ronald’s legs stuck out comically, forcing Christian to untie them so he didn’t fall off the chair. “I guess it goes without saying that you can’t run from us. I’m a Vampire, that one’s a Mage, and Viktor will rip you to pieces.”
Once his legs were unbound, Ronald grimaced as he rubbed his thighs. His nice pants now had wrinkles all the way down.
Christian found another chair and placed it in front of him.
Viktor set the lantern on the ground before taking a seat across from Ronald. “We have evidence you are conspiring against the most powerful men in recent history, organizing their deaths in order to attain their wealth. Christian has extracted a confession from you, should you not remember, and you have also implicated Lenore Parrish.”
Ronald blanched when he looked at us and must have realized he was out of his depth.
Viktor kept his hands on his lap. “Confess every detail on your own. Should you do this, you’ll receive lenience. Should you resist and we have to charm you for withholding information or lying, you will receive no mercy. Breed laws protect humans. But if you are a trusted human, you are also bound by our laws and subject to the same punishment.”
I wasn’t sure if that was entirely true, but it was enough to put a fright in him.
“You’re not the higher authority, are you?”
Christian and I were facing each other as we flanked him. We both noticed a sinister smile creep up Viktor’s face. This was uncharted territory.
“Nyet. We are not the higher authority. They hire people like us to do the work that they cannot. Do you grasp my meaning?”
Ronald slowly nodded.
“Good. Start from beginning and leave nothing out. I want to know how you came to learn about the oligarchs—if this was before or after you met Lenore—and every detail of what you conspired to do. Christian, you will listen and tell me if he lies.”
Christian gripped Ronald’s wrist and held it, which made Ronald take a deep breath. We could have also called in Claude to sniff out his lies, but it was obvious this guy wasn’t going to play roulette with his life. Mortals had more to lose and cared less about their good name.
“I moved here a few months ago and recently met Lenore. She um… She wanted a financial advisor for an old acquaintance who was in town. She was building up his trust, and in the process of my giving her advice, the two of us got close. You know.Close.” He licked his bottom lip, which was split from whatever struggle he’d put up with Christian earlier. “I sold her one of my condos. Lenore likes her space, and I like my privacy, so I don’t live with her all the time. This friend of hers doesn’t trust anyone. The only way we could meet was by blindfolding me. I don’t remember much about it.”
Christian gave Viktor a look that suggested Lenore must have scrubbed his memory of the drive so he wouldn’t recall the location.
