Page 27

Nadia

A low hum has me turning back to Cole, who runs a hand through his dark hair as he looks up at the big building. “I don’t know as much about this town as I wish I did,” he says. “We’ll get further confirmation once we send Rose’s pictures to Jude so his friend can analyze them.”

“See?” Rose says, taking her eye away from the camera for a second to send me a crappy little grin. “Unlike some people, I am very useful on this trip.”

I ignore her, looking back up at Cole.

“But,” Cole says, giving Rose a pointed glare, silently ordering her not to start trouble, “from what our satellite and drone imagery suggest, this big house was Slaken’s. Apparently, he lived here with his select few. His inner circle.” Cole sighs and puts his hands into his pockets.

“Did we capture any of those inner circle people?” I whisper.

Cole hesitates and then nods, once, not looking at me. I smirk a little, realizing that he’s telling me insider information. “Just one. He’s not talking yet, but…dad has high hopes.”

“Good,” I whisper, looking up at the big house again, my chest and stomach filling with dread. I don’t know why – the house seems pretty normal for a house built in the middle of nowhere. But still, I get…a weird feeling about it.

“Can we go inside?” Rose asks, excited.

Cole nods once, terse. “We can. But not for long – dad has asked that you document the entire town, Rose, as best you can. And to use your journalist’s eye to pick up on things that the military might have missed.”

“You got it, sir,” Rose says, giving him a cute salute and a wink that makes me look away, my teeth clenched.

Rose laughs, clearly having a great time, and hurries up the steps to the house.

“Mind if we stay outside?” Tommy asks, looking at Cole. “We’ll keep watch.”

“Yeah, good idea,” Cole says, nodding to him as well. Then he turns to me. “I have to go in with her. You coming or staying?”

I bite my lip, humming a little, pretending to decide.

Cole smirks at me and turns, starting up the stairs. I grin and hurry after him, waving goodbye to Tommy and Shayne as they settle on the bottom step. I smile at the sight of them chatting softly and sitting close.

When Cole, Rose, and I step into the foyer, I look around in surprise because…

it’s nice in here. The living room has lots of furniture, much of it worn, but all of it very high quality.

And the walls are covered in photographs – many of them old sepia prints of people standing close together, looking stern.

“Oh, this is all fantastic,” Rose murmurs, walking quickly to the center of the room and taking pictures of everything. “Do we have any information on who these people are, Cole?” Her flash lights the room in bits and pieces.

“We don’t,” he replies. “I think that my father hopes you can take the lead on that kind of genealogical research. You did that before, yes? With your article on my mother’s family?”

I raise my eyebrow at him.

“Yes!” Rose calls over her shoulder, moving into the dining room and continuing to take pictures like mad. “It would be helpful for me to have all these photographs, whenever the military can spare them!”

“An article on your mom’s family? ”

Cole smirks down at me. “Mom’s got nothing to hide.”

Everyone knows that the Queen has a fascinating and rather scandalous backstory – but I had no idea that Rose was one of the reporters who participated in breaking that story to the nation’s people. She just seems…incredibly young for such a job.

Damn, using her political connections to her advantage, isn’t she?

“But seriously,” I whisper, “you let your girlfriend write an exposé on your mom ?” I shake my head, thinking that was kind of a gross overstep of her boundaries.

Cole leans closer to me – close enough for me to see the green of his eyes in the dark. “I don’t tell my girlfriends what they can and can’t do.”

My thighs tighten, not letting me quail under the sheer power of this man.

“Unless,” he murmurs, his gaze slipping lower, “they want me to.”

My breath hitches a little as he stands straight and walks away, casual as anything, following after Rose as she steps into the next room.

I clench my teeth and swallow hard, pulling my damn self together before I stride after him a moment later. Stupid Cole, all tall and…bossy.

God damn it, he’s always throwing me off. I hate that.

Rose works methodically through the house, taking a picture of each room from every corner before taking what I suppose are more artistic shots.

As she moves, murmuring notes into a tiny recorder she’s attached to the collar of her shirt, I have to admit that I’m impressed by her quick work and her focus.

She’s obviously a professional and obviously very good. Which is…annoying.

Cole and I quietly move behind Rose, me mostly looking around, him with his eyes moving over everything, ensuring our safety as we go.

But as the military suggested, there doesn’t seem to be anyone here – not a single threat.

As we move upstairs, I relax, allowing myself to be interested in the mystery of this place.

When we pass into what are clearly the more personal rooms of the house, my fascination grows. At the top of the stairs, we step into an office with a huge desk right at the center, scattered with the ashes of burned papers.

“Damn, that’s a shame,” Rose murmurs, taking pictures of whatever’s left.

“Yeah, Slaken burned what he couldn’t take,” Cole says with a sigh, leaning in the doorway. “Apparently, the desk was rigged with little cherry bombs that he triggered as he went – little tiny fires in every drawer. It was clever.”

I listen, but my eyes are drawn like magnets to the walls, which are lined with shelf after shelf of…trophies.

Just lines of trophies, and medals, and awards. Some of them are shockingly normal, including a Little League trophy from some baseball league up north. But others are…nonsense.

“David Slaken - Supreme Leader?” I whisper, stepping close to a gigantic silver cup perched in a place of honor on its own special shelf. “Awarded the World Peace Prize?” I look at Cole, my face twisted with confusion. “What is all this shit? Is there such a thing as a World Peace Prize?”

“No,” Cole says, frowning and standing straighter at the door.

“Hmm?” Rose asks, skittering over, snapping more pics. I roll my eyes and step aside, letting her take the space as Cole walks over.

“I have no idea,” he murmurs, reading a few more of the plaques. “I’ve never heard of any of these institutions…here’s one for…the highest IQ in the world…” He scoffs, as baffled as me.

“That’s ridiculous,” Rose says, snapping a picture of it. “They don’t give awards for that.”

“These look like the kinds of things Jude would make as a kid at Midwinter and give out to the family as a joke. Except they’re really high quality…”

“And I don’t think Slaken was kidding,” I whisper, grimacing. Slaken did he…make all these up?

“This is so creepy,” Rose whispers. “God, my article is going to be amazing .”

“Come on,” Cole says, looking around the room in disgust. “Let’s get out of here - we have lots more to cover.”

Rose and I follow Cole, moving through the rest of the upper floors, but my stomach twists with anxiety when I realize that all of the rest of the rooms up here just have…beds.

And I don’t mean that they’re bedrooms – there are no dressers, or bookshelves, or vanities, or toys. Not even anything on the walls. Just…rooms with beds. Nearly a dozen of them.

Why…why the fuck does he need so many beds?

“Come on,” Cole murmurs, putting an arm around my shoulders and turning me away from the last one as Rose leans in to take just one picture. For once, I don’t shy away from Cole, wanting his warmth. This place is…god, I don’t know how to describe it. Soulless? Empty? Just…devoid of life?

Horrible. Whatever it is, it’s horrible. I shiver as we walk down the stairs, following Rose. Cole tightens his arm.

When we hit the ground floor, I head for the entrance, eager to get out, but Cole clears his throat. I turn back to him. “There’s a basement.”

My stomach sinks even further at that. I didn’t think it could get any lower.

“You can wait outside with Shay and –“

“No,” I say, shaking my head. “I want to see.”

Rose waits patiently a few feet away, watching me with neither sympathy nor judgment, which I appreciate.

“All right,” Cole says, looking me over for a moment before we all turn together toward the door at the bottom of the stairs, passing through it and starting down the steps.

Halfway down, Cole slips something out of his pocket and presses a button, producing a very bright little light and handing it to me. My eyebrows rise for a moment at the adorable mini flashlight, but I hold it high above us so that we can all benefit from the light.

But as we move lower to the packed dirt floor, I –

Honestly, I wish I couldn’t see even what little I can.

“Holy shit,” Rose whispers, turning in a slow circle, looking around. She doesn’t even take pictures, too captivated. “This is –“

“Pictures, Rose,” Cole says, his voice low and tight. “Let’s go.”

“Why?” I whisper, looking up at him. “What’s wrong?”

He doesn’t answer me.

Rose moves fast, heading first to the left, where she takes a few quick snaps of what food supplies are left down here. Mostly tinned goods that look very old. I squint at the labels, recognizing the brands but realizing that the advertising is from a couple of years ago.

But I ignore that, watching closely as Rose moves to the other side of the room, which I can barely see with my light. But there – the flash of her camera lights it up more completely.

And reveals…

“Don’t look,” Cole murmurs, slipping an arm around my waist, pulling me back against him. “Nadia –“

“What the fuck,” I whisper.

He tries to raise a hand, wanting to cover my eyes, but I shove his arm away, needing to see it.

More flashes, each one revealing again and again the sight of the soiled mattresses on the floor. And the chains bolted to the wall above them.

“What the fuck is this place?” I whisper, horrified.