Page 137 of The Secrets We Bury

“No way in hell,” I shoot back.

I release the guys’ hands and sprint for the woman’s screaming. Back down the hall and to the right and… I halt in front of a set of double doors hanging open to reveal a loungearea. The smell of rich cigar smoke and whiskey hangs in the air. Beneath that scent, however, is something eerily grotesque.

The smell of shit, urine, and blood.

“He’s dead! Oh my god, he’s dead!”

A woman stumbles out of the room as men swarm outside. Men I recognize. Storming into that lounge is none other than Morpheus’ bodyguards—Murphy and Hughes.

“Juliet.” Nolan’s hand on my arm doesn’t stop me. It can’t. I have to know.

I drift closer as more and more people from the ball begin to gather—all of them called here in reaction to the woman’s still ongoing screaming and sobbing.

“Oh, God,” she wails. “Oh, it’s horrible. H-how could someone do that?”

“Juliet.” My name is a warning now on Nolan’s tongue and still I pull away from him, moving towards the open doors.

I look down as I stop at the threshold. Droplets of red splatter the floor, dark against the cream carpet. It almost looks like wine spilled.Almost.

“Mother of God…” A man in a tuxedo and black-and-white checkered mask stumbles back from the room, crossing himself over his chest in a religious symbol.

I move forward, peering over the heads of the men and women gathered. Craning, and then… I see it. I seehim.

I clamp a hand over my mouth, stifling the shocked scream that threatens to spill out.

“That’s it,” Nolan growls. His hands find my hips and lift me off the floor. He swings me into his arms, my side to his chest. The image of the body remains behind, burned into my corneas, and I buck against a gag, cupping my second hand over the first to hold it back. “G. Lex,” he barks the others’ names. “We’re out of here.”

Hallways flash by. People running. The woman’s screams grow quieter. The sound of people talking in fast, anxious voices dim. The warm air of the hotel is cut off abruptly as we slam out onto the street. Icy wind whips into my face and I release my mouth to breathe it in.

“He’s dead…”

An ambulance shrieks past, curving around to the front of the hotel.

“Did you see who it was, baby?” Lex asks as Nolan jogs towards a waiting vehicle idling on the curb.

I nod my head, numbness taking over. “It was him.”

“Him?” Nolan stops as Gio reaches for the back door of the car.

“Morpheus,” I say. “It was Morpheus.”

“Your uncle?” Nolan sounds shocked.

I look up at him. “You didn’t see?”

He shakes his head. “I was focused on you. Princess… are you sure? It was your uncle? That was the body?”

“It was him,” I say. I’d recognize the man I hate more than anything in this world—dead or alive. But like that… “Someone stabbed him.” I frown. There’d been so much blood; his entire front was covered in the thick liquid. Bright red. His eyes open and unseeing. Right in the center of his chest, too, had been the sharp hilt of a plain knife—like one used to cut up fruits.

The room… I think back. It’d looked like a private bar lounge. There’d been a counter towards the back, glass shelves, and… no bartender. Had he been alone in the room?

Nolan and Gio and Lex exchange glances. “Are you sure?” Gio asks again.

I shake my head. “Why do you keep asking me that?” I demand as I begin to struggle against Nolan’s grasp. He lets me down gently, nudging me into the back of the waiting vehicle.They follow after me as I slide along the seat. A quick glance at the front reveals a waiting Viks, who frowns back at us.

“What happened?” he asks.

“Morpheus is dead,” Nolan states, shutting the door behind us as we cram in. Thankfully, the car has an extra third row and both Gio and Lex take it.

“What?” Viks frowns at us. “Did you?—”

“No,” Nolan answers before he can ask.

Quiet fills the space between us. The question that lingers on all of our minds remains.

If we didn’t kill him… who the fuck did?