Ivo wasn’t sure who was winning.
There were several solid hits from both men, and Ivo was positive they were both men. They were about the same height and build. He winced when the masked man got in a good shot and Yuval’s head snapped back. His jaw dropped when Yuval wiped the blood off his lips and then grinned.
Was he insane?
When the door to his rooms crashed open, the two men continued to fight as if they hadn’t even heard it. Ivo had. He scrambled to his feet, glancing around for his knife.
“Ivo!”
Ivo’s gaze snapped up. “Vitki!”
The look of relief on Vitki’s face when he spotted him would stay with Ivo forever. This was not a man who felt nothing. It couldn’t be. Vitki rushed over to Ivo and squatted in front of him. His eyes seemed to eat up every inch of Ivo.
“Are you hurt?”
“Um…I don’t think so.” He was still a bit dizzy, but hopefully that would pass.
“Come on, we need to get you out of here.”
Ivo muffled his groan when Vitki grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet. Okay, maybe he was a little sore. It had to be from when he hit the wall. Hopefully, a long soak in that fancy tub he saw in the bathroom would help.
Vitki started pulling him toward the door, but when he heard athud, Ivo turned, his eyes widening when he saw the body on the floor. “Holy… Is he dead?”
He had to be dead. The eyes seemed lifeless as they stared up at the ceiling, unblinking.
“He is dead,” Yuval said.
Ivo glanced at the man. “Oh, hey, you’re bleeding.” Ivo pulled away from Vitki and ran to the bathroom. He grabbed several hand towels, wet one of them, and then rushed back into the other room.
“Here.” Ivo pressed one of the towels to the worst-looking wound on Yuval’s arm.
The man stared at him as if he didn’t understand quite what Ivo was doing. “Thank you.”
Ivo smiled weakly. The man had just killed someone to save his life. Putting pressure on his wound seemed like the least Ivo could do. “No, thank you.”
“How in the hell did this happen, Yuval?” Vitki snapped. “I left you in charge. You were supposed to watch him.”
“Sir, I don’t know—”
“He came through the fireplace.” Ivo swallowed tightly when both men turned to look at him. “What?”
“He came through the fireplace?” Vitki asked before waving his hand toward the massive stone structure. “That fireplace?”
“Yes. I was just starting to come out of the little kitchen thingy when I saw the fireplace swing open and that guy stepped out.”
Vitki’s eyebrows pulled together tightly. “What little kitchen thingy?”
Ivo pointed to the wall.
Confusion ignited inside of him when Vitki walked over to the wall and started feeling around on it. “How can you guys not know about this?”
All it was, really, was a section of wood that was pressed in. Ivo guessed he could understand everyone’s confusion, as there were sections of wood in the wainscoting that went all the way around the dining area. He had actually kind of found it by accident when he was trailing his fingers along the wall while exploring.
Ivo walked over and pressed the wooden section he had found earlier. The door to the small kitchenette swung open. Vitki stared inside for a moment before glancing over at Yuval. “Did you know about this?”
“No, sir, but it makes me wonder just how many of these little surprises there really are.”
“This one and the fireplace are the only ones I’ve found so far,” Ivo insisted.
