Page 37 of The Castle (Endgame 3)
His laugh is a rumble that spreads through my body with me held in his lap. I feel it at the depths of my soul, his pleasure at my dark pronouncement. “Yes, little virgin. I am.”
I close my eyes. “I have a confession to make.”
“Did you perhaps grow angry with me? Or with your father? And maybe throw something? I don’t know what clues make me think that.” He examines the room in shambles. “I can’t quite put my finger on it.”
The corner of my lips turns up. “I hope you’ll forgive me for that, but it isn’t the only thing.”
He tucks my hair behind my ear. “Tell me the rest.”
A deep breath is the only strength I can find. “I’ve been hearing voices. It started after the fire. First they only came during the nightmares. But they started to feel more and more real. And the one I heard today? I wasn’t sleeping. Not just waking up. Completely awake.”
He looks grave. “Here? You hear them in my house?”
I nod, aware of what this means. Especially with the hollow walls exposed around us. I didn’t find a single speaker, a secret room with a stool and food wrappers. Nothing that would have explained the voices. And that leaves only one choice.
“I’m going crazy,” I whisper. “Like my father believed about my mother. But it wasn’t true for her. Or maybe it was. Maybe Jonathan Scott only made it worse. Maybe he played on her fears. I don’t know anything except what I hear.”
Gabriel carefully stands, supporting me with his hands, golden gaze examining the exposed walls with detached curiosity. “What do they say?”
“They talk about…” My cheeks flush with embarrassment. “They talk about the monster under my bed. Almost like the voice is the monster. That he has feelings, too. That he’s sad I’ve forgotten him.”
“And you don’t know who the voice belongs to?”
“I thought…for a while I thought they sounded like you. Now I don’t know. A man. Not a man I can remember, but someone who seems familiar. I know that sounds crazy.”
He takes a step toward the wall, peering into the hollow space. “Not crazy. It’s a puzzle. Like any puzzle, there’s a logical solution.”
“Apparently it’s not someone hiding in the walls.”
He meets my gaze with a faint smile. “No, not that. Come with me.”
Taking my hand, he leads me from the room and down the hall. We enter the kitchen, passing by a wide-eyed Mrs. B. I can only imagine what she thinks of my mental state. And she’s not wrong.
For a moment I think we’re going outside, onto the lawn. We turn to the right instead, where a man of military bearing stands beside a door. The same man who greeted me below the balcony the other night. I might be embarrassed if I weren’t so upset.
He nods at Gabriel. “Sir.”
“West.” Gabriel greets him and pushes through the door, revealing an array of screens. Another man sits on a black leather chair, his silver hair short, his lined expression severe.
He stands as we enter, his build imposing but his posture deferent.
“Leave us,” Gabriel says.
And just like that the small room empties, the door closes. I know without asking that a nuclear explosion could occur and we would not be disturbed, based on Gabriel’s quietly spoken command. If those two men are knights in the medieval hierarchy, then Gabriel is clearly the king.
This war room would be the one with a map, little ceramic pieces placed to indicate walls and barricades. A large screen in the center shows the front lawn with its wide circular drive and row of walnut trees extending to the main road. A second screen almost as large shows the balcony behind the house, the marble chess set gleaming in the sunlight.
“Oh my God,” I say.
That means someone sees us play chess every night.
Someone saw us have sex on the balcony.
“You can’t be too careful,” Gabriel says mildly. “An ex-fiancé might show up anytime.”
I flinch. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry,” he says. “I don’t blame you for my lapse in security. He never should have gotten through, at least not without me present.”
“Nothing happened. If there are cameras in there, then you know that.”
He nods. “I do.”
And he knows exactly what was said. “Every room?”
“Which do you want to see?”
“Penny’s room. Last night, right before you came home.”
Gabriel reaches down to the keyboard. He taps a few keys with ease, making it clear he’s familiar with the system. How many times has he watched it? How many times has he watched me?
A room appears on the screen, stark white sheets and a dark wood headboard carved with ivy. I’m sitting on the bed with Penny.
Her voice is only a whisper, but I can hear it perfectly clear. “So dark.”
“Shh,” I soothe, stroking her hair. “Don’t try to figure it out right now. Rest. Sleep now.”
