I stiffen, peering at the raised lip of wood where there shouldn’t be a seam. Then muffled yelling comes again.
Holy shit.
It’s coming frombehindthe shelves.
My pulse quickens as I slide my fingers over the edge of the bookcase, and my muscles tense as I pull back.
The bookcase swings open on hidden hinges, gliding easily across the floor. Behind it, a low, dark, brick hallway stretches out before making a sharp turn and descending into the shadows.
“Don’t you fucking dare!”
That was unmistakably Vaughn.
Then another voice rasps up from the darkness, crawling over my skin like spiders.
“Or whaaaaat…”
That wasnotVaughn.
And yet, there's a familiarity to it that sends an icy ripple snaking through me.
I should just leave it, whatever it is. It could be a work thing for all I know. Maybe he’s just having a business argument with one of his people?
In the middle of the night? Down a secret passage?.
My mind starts replaying the visual of his freaked-out, faraway look, like he was a passenger in his own body as he held a knife to his jugular.
No. I’m not “just leaving” this at all.
I step through the doorway and then walk down the brick hallway, sliding my hand over the rough, warm stones next to me. When I get to a corner that starts to disappear into the shadows, I realize it’s actually a circular brick staircase, descending into the gloom.
The yells become muffled.
Keep going.
My hand stays firmly on the wall in the almost pitch darkness as I slowly descend the stairs. Terror lurks in every scuff of my feet and lingers in every shadow that plays tricks with my mind. The staircase winds down and down, until I’m sure I’ve gone past the second and first floors of the huge house and am going even deeper, into Hell itself.
“You’re weak! Pathetic! Can’t even distance yourself from one little distraction!”
A chill crawls down my spine.
It doesn’t sound like Vaughn. But IknowI’ve heard that deep, rasping voice before.
Butwhat the hellis that voice doing yelling at Vaughn at the bottom of some creepy-ass secret staircase behind a hidden bookcase door?
“You go near her again, and I will rip your fucking head off!”
That's Vaughn again. But the sheer violence in his tone does nothing to calm the racing of my heart.
The stairs even out to a brick hallway. The air feels heavier down here, and it’s strangely warm. Up ahead, faint flickering light outlines the edges of a closed door.
“You won’t,” the familiar-yet-not voice sneers with cold amusement from just beyond the closed door ahead. “Because we both know it’s POWER you value above all else. More than your brother, more than companionship. Certainly more than a little piece of tail!”
I flinch but keep moving toward the door, my pulse thudding in my veins and a dark, twisting sensation slithering through my center.
My hand wraps around the knob, my heartbeat screaming in my ears as I slowly push the door open, readying myself for whatever might greet me.
But nothing could possibly prepare me for this.
