“I’m more worried that Rothwild is heading down the mountain right now to kill him,” I said, looking for a way out with the flashlight. Ceiling? No holes or shafts. We were basically in a smaller cave with bars blocking its mouth. “I don’t know if he can get to him in the twins’ shop. Lovena is there, but... I don’t know.”
He wasn’t listening. He was staring through the bars at Rothwild’s robed goons guarding the exit tunnel. They wielded falx swords that curved wickedly like sickles. “Those two bastards... make getting out of here harder.”
“Let’s think about getting past these bars first,” I said. We had the flashlight, but that would make noise. It would only draw the guards.
“It’s impossible. I’ve been trying to escape since the bastard shoved me in here yesterday.” He growled and made a fist. Tapped it against the bars. “Christ, Theodora. Why did you come here?”
“To rescue you!”
“I wanted you to stay out of this,” he said, miserable. “I was trying to protect you.”
“I wasn’t the one who needed protecting.” I gestured toward the sling around his injured arm.
“We need to come up with a plan. For when he comes back. Maybe destroy the bone band... Let me see it again.”
I put a hand in my pocket and shook my head. “It can’t be destroyed.”
“What do you mean ‘can’t’?”
“Don’t act so surprised that I’ve learned more about it than you have.”
“Don’t get smart with me, young lady.”
“Too late,” I said, matching his hard stare. “It can’t be destroyed. The Zissu brothers told me. If you’d found them last summer, you’d know that, but apparently you gave up and went on summer holiday with Jean-Bernard to Greece. By the way, here,” I said, retrieving the red journal from inside my coat. “You can have this back. I didn’t lose it.”
He begrudgingly accepted the journal and started to argue. But I guess he thought better of it and just clenched his jaw.
“What about that rubble pile?” I said, pointing the flashlight at the back of the cell. “Have you searched it for something to pick the lock?”
“Can you pick a lock?”
He knew I couldn’t. I smacked the flashlight against my palm to shake the bulb into place then used it to search the rubble pile in the back of the cell while Father continued to sulk near the bars.
“You lied to me,” I finally said.
His body tensed. I could see it in his shoulders, though he wouldn’t turn around and look at me. “Parents don’t tell lies. They only do whatever it takes to protect their children.”
I’d heard that before. “Well, you did a lot of protecting, then. I went to the university in Cluj. Talked to Dr. Mitu’s assistant.”
“Theodora, I—”
“Youliedto me,” I insisted. “You kept it from me. How long have you known? Since summer? It was the page torn out in your journal, wasn’t it? You said you didn’t go see him, but you must have changed your mind the next day—or telephoned? Something.”
“Researching family trees is just a hobby for Mitu. He could be wrong.”
“Doesn’t sound like he thinks he’s wrong.” When Father didn’t reply, I pressed him. “Vlad the Impaler. I can’t even wrap my head around it. Did Mother ever suspect? Is that why she’d asked Dr. Mitu to help her research her ancestry before she died?”
He didn’t say anything for a long moment. Then he sniffled and spoke to the cell bars in a quiet voice. “Her father used to tell stories about their family. She didn’t know what to believe. I don’t either. I don’t want to talk about this now.”
Or ever. That was clear from his disgruntled tone. Quietly fuming, I moved a large rock at the back of the cell and some kind of white bug scurried away. Maybe I’d better leave this be. Did snakes live in caves? I wasn’t sure I wanted to find out.
I stood up and dusted my hand on my khaki trousers. “I know about Huck, too. You lied to me about that,” I said quietly.
“I did it for your own good.”
“No. You did it foryou. I love him, Daddy. And I think he loves me.”
“Don’t start with this,” he begged, squeezing his eyes closed.
