Page 77 of The White Octopus Hotel
Eve raised an eyebrow. “And you?”
He smiled slightly. “I’m not here. Not really. I was supposed to die in the war.” He met her gaze. “Or here at the hotel. A man knows when his time is up sometimes. He’ll sense there’s a shell out there with his name on it. And it’s all right, in the end, because I know when I go, I’ll be helping you. And that’s what I came here to do. It’s the thing I’ve been waiting for almost my whole life. I’m not trying to change your mind about the writing paper, I’m telling you that it’s all right. I understand why you need to do it and I don’t mind. I don’t mind at all.”
Eve took a deep breath. She was afraid to speak too much while the hands of that clock were pointing toTruth,in case she revealed things she didn’t wish to reveal.
“I don’t regret anything at all about 1918,” she said carefully. “Not one single moment. And I’m…I’m sorry you ever thought differently and I’m sorry it has to end this way between us.”
“The good times don’t last,” Max replied. “That’s just how it is. But I’m glad I met you, Eve Shaw.” He glanced at the clock once more. “We should go.” He nodded down at her scavenger hunt card lying on the table. “You’ve still got one last octopus and clock to find before the party tonight. But I hope you won’t mind me saying that you look exhausted. We should do as Luca suggests and get a few hours’ sleep before the morning.”
Eve wanted to protest, to continue with the hunt immediately.But the fact was that she didn’t know where to look. She’d looked everywhere, hadn’t she? She’d even looked in the past and it still hadn’t been enough. Shewasexhausted. And the lure of sleep was irresistible. She and Max returned to the lift, and as the door slid closed, she reached for his hand—even though she knew that she shouldn’t. But she wanted to feel the warmth and the rightness of his fingers entwined with hers one final time. When the lift doors opened on her floor, she couldn’t let him go. One way or another, this was the last night they would ever be together. And it was so hard to say goodbye.
“Will you stay with me?” she found herself asking.
“I will.”
They went to Room 27 and crawled beneath the covers fully dressed. Max wrapped his arms around Eve and rested his chin on top of her head, his body warming her back. A feeling spread through Eve that was so alien it took her a moment to identify it. This was security and warmth and contentment. This was happiness and love. This was peace. And her heart broke because she knew she couldn’t keep any of it. That she would have to let it all go tomorrow.
But, for now, she held on to Max and fell into the relief of a dreamless sleep.
—
When Eve woke the next morning, Max was still there in the bed with her, one arm draped over her stomach. She waited for feelings of awkwardness or embarrassment, but they never came. It felt right, waking up together like this. She wished that she could linger there with him, but time was running out, so she nudged him awake and said, “It’s morning. We have to go.”
“All right.” Max sat up, rubbing his eyes. “I’ll go back to my room to get changed. Meet you downstairs in half an hour?”
“See you then.”
Once he’d gone, Eve changed out of her nurse’s uniform for the final time and had a wash before looking into the wardrobe to see what outfit it had selected for her today—a belted polka-dot teal dress with pockets in the skirt and a matching bolero.
Max was waiting for her by the fountain in the lobby. They were about to head towards the corridor when Anna came storming over to them. She was still wearing last night’s evening gown and her hair was in disarray, as if she’d been running her hands through it.
“Where is it?” she hissed.
“Where’s what?” Eve asked, startled.
“The key! To the lift. I know you’ve been down to the basement.”
“I’ve got it,” Max said, rummaging in his pocket and handing it over to her.
Anna stared at the object in her hand. “I have the only key. There is one key to the lift,one,and it doesn’t leave my side. How did you come by another?”
“You’ve got a lot of questions,” Eve said. “But so do I. Why did you trick me into checking out in 1918? Why did you pretend we’d never met before?”
Anna stared at her. “I didn’t trick you. I was following my instructions.I’vedone whatI’msupposed to do every step of the way.You’rethe one who’s getting it wrong and ruining everything. Down in the basement, which trunks did you look in?”
“We looked in a few that had our own names on them,” Max said.
“And one suitcase for Nikolas Roth,” Eve added.
The colour drained from Anna’s face so fast that she looked as if she might faint.
“The contents?” she whispered.
“There were paintings,” Eve replied.
She didn’t go on because Anna recoiled as if Eve had slapped her. “You saw them?”
“Well, yes.”
