“Come.” Miro moved toward Ivo. “We take secret way.”
“There’s a secret way?” Ivo got up, ready to scream his fool head off. “Then why didn’t we take that way to begin with?”
Miro grinned. “Is secret.”
Ivo would learn to shut his mouth. Ten minutes later he learned why. He still couldn’t believe he had let Vitki talk him into entering the sewer system. Things Ivo would rather not think about grew along the walls. Rats scurried past his feet. And the smell? Ivo had to concentrate not to vomit.
The tunnels twisted and turned in every direction. If Ivo had to use this way to get out of the estate, he would be utterly screwed. There was no way he would remember the way back to the forest. He kept close to Vitki. Not only did the tunnels creep Ivo out, but so did the shadows.
He kept expecting a shooter to jump out at any second and nail him with a bullet to the head.
Vitki led the way. Yuval and Miro were behind Ivo. At one point they had to walk through murky, stinking water. Ivo would have to shower with a scouring pad once they made it to the estate.
If they ever made it. At this point, it looked doubtful.
Vitki stopped in front of a thick metal grate. Ivo didn’t see a way past it. “Is this a dead end?”
“Yuval, take Ivo to the end of this tunnel.”
Ivo’s brows shot up. “Why does he have to take me back the way we came? Why aren’t you coming too?”
Vitki sighed. “Please, we must hurry. I don’t have time to explain.”
“You say that a lot,” Ivo complained as he followed Yuval. He spun when he heard metal creaking, but Yuval quickly stepped into Ivo’s line of sight.
“No looking.”
Was the guy serious? Ivo moved past Yuval and headed back to Vitki. His jaw dropped when the metal grate looked as if it had been melted on one side. “What the…”
“We must hurry.” Vitki stepped through the gate.
Ivo just stood there gaping at the molten metal. Something definitely was going on here, and it wasn’t just men shooting at him. Ivo felt as if he had stepped into theTwilight Zone.
* * * *
Vitki was relieved when he finally got Ivo to his room. The fact that Ivo had seen Vitki melt the metal bars to get them there didn’t upset him as much as it should have. Ivo would soon find out the truth anyway.
It just wasn’t the way Vitki would have liked to show Ivo their world.
“Are we going to ignore the elephant in the room?” Ivo asked, refusing to step inside the bedroom. “You melted thick metal, Vitki. No man can do that. And don’t tell me you used a damn lighter.”
“I am not the one who will explain things to you.” And that didn’t sit right with Vitki. Max should have been the one, or Vitki should have had permission to give Ivo full disclosure. But instead, Ivo stood in the hallway, still clueless.
“You promised,” Ivo said, a needless reminder.
“I did not say I would be the one explaining things to you, merely that things would be explained. Now go inside and rest.” Vitki grabbed Ivo’s hand and led him into the room.
Ivo glanced around. “Three of my apartments could fit in here.” He spun, his gaze flickering all over the place. “I feel like I’ve stepped into a five-star hotel.”
If he only knew. Ivo would want for nothing. That was, unless one of the council members tried to have him assassinated first. Vitki wouldn’t put it past one of them to be behind the attempts already made on Ivo’s life.
It wasn’t Vitki’s place to question the council, but damn if he didn’t want to march into their chambers and throttle each and every one of them. Knowing how underhanded and cutthroat they could be, Vitki had handpicked Ivo’s bodyguards, picking only men he trusted with his life.
The guards of the castle were corrupt, and Vitki wouldn’t trust any of them to fetch a glass of water, let alone guard the rightful heir to the throne.
When Vitki started away, Ivo ran after him. “You’re leaving me?”
“A guard will be posted outside your door.” If Vitki stayed, the temptations raging inside of him wouldn’t be contained for much longer. Being around Ivo was a test of Vitki’s control. He wanted nothing more than to lay Ivo down on his four-poster bed and fuck the man until neither of them could walk.
