“Knock, knock,” Aubrey bellows through Felix’s closed door. I pull back to look at her. This is the most casual I’ve seen her act with any of the Matthews.
“Yeah, come on in.”
She looks at me, and her lips curve up like we’re in on the same secret. But she hasn’t told me why we need to make a stop in Felix’s office, so I don’t get it. I follow after her anyway, more curious than I let on because I’ve never seen the inside of his domain.
She strolls toward him with me trailing behind, then rests her ass on his desk and places one hand on her hip. She tilts her head to reveal a mark I hadn’t noticed on her neck. A hickey? “Really? Are we in high school?”
My eyes widen. I didn’t think we were allowed to speak to the Matthews like that. Not that it isn’t a perfectly normal way to speak—anywhere else.
He smirks, his eyes locked on hers as though it’s just the two of them in the room. “You said nothing permanent this time. It just came to me.” He shrugs. “You know, heat of the moment and all that.”
She rolls her eyes. “Raife doesn’t like it.”
Felix wipes a palm across his mouth and adjusts his bowtie. “Yeah well, Raife’s not the one who discovered you and invited you here. So it could be said that, on principle alone, I win.” He grins.
A smile lifts her lips, and she mutters something in agreement, but I’ve stopped paying attention. Three huge monitors sit on Felix’s desk. Two of the screens are black, but the third and largest one is lit up with small squares.
Each square reflects a camera’s view of different rooms of the house.
My stomach tightens at my discovery. So Felix is the one monitoring the cameras. Right now at least. It’s not much, but it’s the first thing I’ve stumbled across that could be useful somehow.
Lip-smacking hits my ears, and Aubrey waves for me to leave as she mounts Felix’s lap. “You’re on break,” she murmurs through his mouth. “You’re welcome.”
My lips quirk. “Thanks.”
I quickly exit, closing the door behind me, and chew on my lip. This is the first time she’s let me go on break without her. I glance at the camera at the end of the hall, a rush of adrenaline pouring through me as ideas formulate in my mind. The person on watch is a little preoccupied at the moment.
Before I miss my chance, I travel down the stairs and turn left, stopping only once I reach the basement door. It’s cracked open again. I’m either remarkably lucky or terribly unlucky. Nerves wrack me as I flick my gaze down the empty hall and slip inside. A pitch-black cloud swallows me, just like before, but this time I’m prepared for the staircase. Finding a rail to my left, I carefully make my way down.
The stairs lead me to a wide, dimly lit hallway with cameras at both ends and several doors lining each side. Deadly silence fills my ears, and I breathe it in. It’s not easy to get a quiet like this, the kind that’s still and thin, fragile like it could break at any moment.
I slide my shoes off and carry them in my left hand, then slowly pad through the basement. There are four rooms I can see, but the hallway curves at the end, hinting at more. Each door is open, lights off, nothing but shadow over clinical tiled floors. After passing the third room, I glance over my shoulder and slink into the fourth.
A cold wave of disappointment floods me as I look around. There’s nothing here. Literally. Other than a column running from the ceiling to the floor, it’s a vast expanse of nothingness.
Irritation gnaws at me. I risked getting caught over this?
I take in the room once more. Something doesn’t feel right. Why have a basement filled with empty rooms? And why would Adam be down here? After creeping further inside and still finding nothing, I exit and duck into one of the other rooms. This one is exactly the same, except there’s a metal table just a few feet from the column.
Slowly, I approach the table, intense curiosity pulling each footstep forward. A rectangular tray sits tilted in the center. My throat tightens as my eyes trace the sharp instruments laid out side by side. Reaching forward, I let my fingers graze the scissors from top to bottom, then I drift to the scalpel. My heart thumps a little too loudly, almost echoing against the hollow walls of my chest. I pick up the instrument, cock my head to one side, and lightly skim the thin blade along the inside of my index finger.
Strange thoughts seep into my head as I wonder how deep it cuts. If the red liquid it spills pours out in a rush, or if it trickles down, like in my paintings.
With a jerk, I drop the instrument and step back when athunksounds from down the hall. Heavy footfalls hit my ears, blending with the echo of the scalpel hitting the metal tray. Darting from the room, I race down the hall and up the steps, my pulse on overdrive, my breathing hard. Once I’m alone in the hall, with the basement door cracked beside me, I pause and rest against the wall.
As my breathing slows, my ears fill with Aubrey’s voice ...
They have enemies.
And maybe a few trust issues.
