My eyes drop to her cleavage, the ample bosom capturing my attention for more than just my usual reasons.
Bingo.
The Hoffmann Diamond sits nestled between Evelyn’s voluptuous curves, the glistening gemstone winking at me from its scandalous location.
This is going to be fun.
“I don’t know where you’ve heard such rumours, but I can assure you, nothing so nefarious happens in my part of the woods.”
Her response is breathier than earlier, the lust quickly overtaking the rational part of her brain. It’s a cheap shot, using sex appeal to my advantage, but there’s only so much time in a day and my hourglass is running out fast.
And I still need to find the coffin.
“And here I thought the honest truth was the only one that should be spoken.”
Evelyn smiles, her gaze on my lips rather than my face, “So he does know how to listen.”
“I can even speak on command when the mood strikes.”
She lets out a twinkling laugh, one that’s light and airy and sounds about as fake as you can get. It bounces off my skin without leaving so much as a mark, the kind of sound you forget the minute you walk out the door.
Call me biased, but I would rather have a woman laugh with her heart and soul then just her mouth.
“You are as charming as they say, Christopher Deville.” Keeping her eyes glued to my lips, Evelyn brings her face an inch closer, “Charming, amusing and handsome. Men like you should come with a warning label.”
“And women like you should come with a health hazard.”
She laughs again, her hand coming to rest on my arm as she starts to lead me through the crowd. It’s a possessive kind of gesture, one that scares off the people looking in our direction.
And tells me I’ve still got it.
“The White Castle was my great grandfather’s pride and joy, you know. He designed this place to ensure privacy could be attained at every opportunity, especially when people such as yourself find themselves within our walls.”
Lingering conversation starts to fade as the crowd gets replaced by stone walls and prison cells. The dungeons are more intact in this section of the castle, the unfortunate concrete toilets and miniscule windows offering a miserable outlook for any prisoner unlucky enough to reside here.
My chest grows tight the farther we go, the darkness outside flooding the corridor until I’m forced to rely on the flickering candlelight and the sound of water dripping overhead.
“Your grandfather built secret rooms?”
“He preferred the term underground laboratories, but yes. He was quite fond of rooms that were not easily accessible to the prison guards who used to reside here.”
Evelyn comes to a stop at an ancient looking bookshelf. She reaches up and turns a marble soldier thirty degrees to the left before pressing him back against the wall.
A wall which starts to open.
I blow out a breath when a gust of wind screeches between us, the wide circular opening holding a strange array of instruments. Evelyn bypasses them all without a single glance, her long black dress brushing the dusty floor as she twists a knob and beckons me closer.
“The entrance to my chambers is through here.” She casts a sly smile over her shoulder, “Enter if you dare.”
I can’t tell if she’s joking, so I don’t bother laughing.
Stepping carefully around her, I’m greeted by a smaller room, one that looks abandoned and ruined beyond repair. A single stream of moonlight filters through a grainy window, casting an eerie spotlight on the shattered pieces of a broken mirror.
A soul-piercing scream erupts somewhere in the distance and goosebumps break out along my skin.
“Darling, I don’t see another door-
My mouth slams shut when I see the closed door behind me.
