“Luci, do you know what’s happening?”
She shakes her head, still refusing to look at me.
“I came here because I need your help.” I blow out a breath and cut to the heart. “I think I’m in danger.”
Her head whips up. “What? Why?”
I can’t tell her everything. Not yet. “Did you come into my apartment? Did you leave the book for me to find?”
She tilts her head, confusion plain on her face. “No, I never—what book?”
“Carmilla. It’s an older story about?—”
“I know the story.” Her skin turns white as I watch. “No. It wasn’t me.” Wringing her hands, she turns away and then back to me again. “Oh, no. I was afraid of this.”
“Afraid of what?” I ask, trying to catch her eye as she starts pacing back and forth.
“I had a feeling something was wrong. He acted the same way when . . .” She stops moving and stares, her next words chilling me to the bone. “You have to leave. You need to get away from Maison Marteau.”
“I can’t.”
“You have to. I wasn’t sure before, about Rose. But now I am.” She shuts her lips, clenches her fists. “Come. I’ll take you out.”
She pushes past me, but I grab her arm. “No, listen to me. I want to leave, but Ican’t.The gates are locked, and my phone isn’t working, either. I think someone’s using a jammer.”
I don’t want to spook her, but I have to make her understand the urgency. “Someone is trying to keep me here. And I need your help.”
Releasing my hold on her, I glance around the bedroom. “Is there a landline in the house? A way to call for help? I tried before, but the emergency lines were busy. But maybe you can call someone else. Someone you trust.”
“No.”
Fear twists in my gut, and I face her again. “You won’t help me?”
She moves to the bed and sits on the edge. “I mean, there’s no one to call. No one will stand up to my family.”
So she does know something. But how much?
Her bottom lip trembles, and her shoulders have folded in. She seems so fragile, but I can’t let her disappear into herself. I need to reach her somehow.
Easing closer, I choose my words with care. “Did Rose try to stand up to them?”
Luci bites her lip and clenches her eyes. “I don’t know. But she was asking me a lot of questions before she left.”
I draw a deep breath and say out loud what she already suspects. “Are you sure she left? Or did something bad happen?”
She claps her hands over her ears and shakes her head. “No, no. Please, don’t make me think about it. I hate him. I hate him. He knew how I felt about her, and he . . . he . . .”
I don’t press her, but she continues anyway, as if she needs to tell the truth as badly as I need to hear it. “I knew something was wrong. I knew it. The way he looked at her.”
Luci swallows and rubs her mouth. “I told her to stop, to not make trouble.” A sob breaks free, and tears trickle down her cheeks. “But she must have, and I think something happened to her.”
Luci’s teary eyes meet mine. “Because she wouldn’t leave me behind.”
Lowering my voice, I speak gently, worried the words could shatter her. “Her sister thinks someone in your family hurt Rose.”
I don’t know what reaction I expect, but I’m surprised when Luci nods. “I do, too.”
“Do you know why?”
