Page 47 of The Perfect Guests
“Hendrik.” Leonora nodded stiffly by my side.
The old man’s expression softened as he turned to me. “Well now, Nina. This is a quick visit, but I’m very interested to hear your views on a little proposal I have for you...”
He turned toward the drawing room, clearly expecting me to follow. Leonora reached out and pinched my arm as I moved away from her. A silent reminder of what I was supposed to tell him. She hurried away to the kitchen then to fetch the tea tray.
Markus’s father settled on the sofa nearest the fire, and I perched next to him. Markus took a seat opposite me, and his smile was surprisingly relaxed.
“It’s great to see you, Dad,” Markus said. “Really good.”
I frowned at him. I doubted Leonora would be pleased to hear him sound so sincere about his father’s visit, but she was still out in the kitchen.
“I’ll cut to the chase,” my supposed grandfather said. “I want you to come back with me, Markus. I’ve got a position all lined up for you, and in five years you’ll take over the company. It’ll be the best thing for Nina. And for you, too, of course. I won’t hear any argument. This place is going on the market next week.”
Markus’s mouth gaped like a startled fish’s.
His father turned to me. “What do you say, Nina? You can take a few months off, switch schools, and pick up where you left off, no problem. Are you ready to make a fresh start?”
Teacups rattled in the doorway behind me, and I knew Leonora must be standing there, hastily grabbed tray in hand. I gazed into the older man’s eyes, and I tried to communicate my real feelings to him, even as I opened my mouth to parrot Leonora’s words.
“I couldn’t bear to leave Raven Hall, Grandfather,” I said mechanically. “Please don’t make me go. It would break my heart.”
His blue eyes looked beyond mine into my skull, into my soul, and my skin tingled with the certainty that he knew I was acting—that he saw the real me underneath. And Iwantedhim to see me. I kept my gaze fixed firmly on his, and I pleaded silently with him, with all my might.Help me.Get me out of here.
“I understand,” he said slowly. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. And then, in one swift movement, he caught hold of my hand, as if to give it a conciliatory squeeze, and he slipped a small rectangular card into my palm. “I’m sure we can sort everything out,” he said, without breaking our eye contact. “I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure you’re happy.”
The clink of china came nearer, and Leonora set the tray down on the coffee table.
“Tea?” she said brightly.
But Hendrik was already rising. “No, thank you.” He frowned at Markus. “I meant what I said. I won’t put up with this any longer. Let me know Nina’s exam dates, and I’ll take that into account. But this house has been a curse on our family, and it’s going to be sold, whether you like it or not.”
He stalked from the room, and as Markus and Leonora hurried after him, I dropped my gaze to the small rectangular card in my hand. It was a business card, withhendrik meyerprinted across the center, and several phone numbers. I now had the means to contact my supposed grandfather whenever I wanted.
I was still sitting there, feeling dazed, when I heard a new note of urgency in the voices from the hall.
“Is that smoke?” Hendrik said. “What’s going on?”
“My God!” Markus said, his voice rising to a shout. “Something’s on fire!”
I ran out to the hall. Thick gray smoke obscured the landing and billowed down the stairs. Markus was already disappearing into it, his arm held across his nose and mouth, and I couldn’t see whether he turned left or right at the top. A sharp, acrid smell filled my nostrils, and a moment later, I began to cough.
“For God’s sake,” Hendrik bellowed at a frozen-looking Leonora. “Phone the fire brigade. We could lose the whole house!”
Hendrik started up the stairs after Markus, calling his name. Leonora turned to me, white-faced.
“Nina,” she whispered, and the sound of her own voice seemed to snap her into action. Ignoring Hendrik’s instruction, she, too, ran up the stairs and was swallowed by the smoke.
The sound of crackling flames reached my ears, and I heard a choked shout from Markus, followed by a prolonged bout of coughing that could have come from any of them. My heart battered in my chest like a bird trapped in a chimney. Nina was up there, sick or asleep in her turret bedroom—and what if she couldn’t get out? Before I could change my mind, I held my sleeve over my own nose and mouth, and I ran up after them.
She didn’t know she had so many tears saved up inside her. She pedals furiously toward the village, feeling her heart shattering into thousands of tiny jagged-edged pieces. The Backstabber is Raven Hall’s new owner. And Markus is the Backstabber’s son.
She’s lost everything. Her parents, her home, and now Markus. All gone.
She swipes angrily at her eyes and swerves closer to the grass shoulder as a car approaches from behind. It slows, and she’s horrified to see Markus’s concerned face glide alongside her. The Backstabber himself is in the driver’s seat—she remembers, now, that his name is Hendrik. That’s what Daddy used to call him before Daddy started drinking, before everything went so horribly, terribly wrong.
“Lara, please,” Markus says, “let us give you a lift somewhere, at least...”
“Go away!” she shouts. “I don’t need you! Leave me alone, or I’ll—”
