Page 91 of Wolf's Bane
“Because my imagination runs away with me and keep your voice down. Lionel does not like anyone in his study.”
“Then why are we in here?”
“I need you to open this drawer,” Charlotte said.
“I’m sorry, what?” The rapid change in topic could make a person dizzy.
Charlotte chewed on her lower lip, then leaned in. Her voice was hushed, nearly a whisper. “I have not been forthright with you. I fear Lionel is keeping something important from me. He did not tell me about his late wife. I only discovered that because his sister let it slip. What else is he keeping from me?”
Solenne’s first impulse was to console her friend, to gently chide that she should have confided her doubts. Perhaps Solenne should have sensed the unease in Charlotte, but she had been ill and busy with the wedding.
No. Charlotte called on Solenne a dozen times to discuss wedding plans. Never once did she hint that anything was amiss, and she had never been shy about sharing her worries.
“You just want to be a nosy busybody, and I won’t be part of it,” Solenne said.
Light leaked into the room through the drapes. A large, heavy desk dominated the room. A bookcase lined one wall while a display cabinet ran the length of the other.
If Chambers had filled his home with weapons and souvenirs of military campaigns, this was an altar to the original colonists. Solenne recognized the heavy battery cubes, similar to the ones in her mother’s workshop. There was a handheld device whose purpose she had no idea, the screen gray and blank. A helmet, pristine and without a scratch, sat next to a blue and green sphere.
Solenne peered closely at the sphere. It was unlike anything she had ever seen. A topographical map covered the surface, but it was not the familiar landmass she knew. These continents were unknown to her.
“Is that the old world? Earth?” Her fingers twitched, wanting to touch the globe but fearful of damaging the relic. Everything on display was priceless and belonged in a museum.
“Yes. This is Lionel’s study and his private collection. I know there’s something serious he’s keeping from me and I know it’s horrible to involve you, but please? Can you open the drawer? You’re ever so clever with these things.”
Solenne looked at the solid wood drawer and the rather sturdy lock. “I don’t know how to pick locks.”
“But you’re so clever with tools—”
“Tools? What do you think I do?”
“Something with herbs.” Charlotte waved her hand in a manner that suggested any number of things, like whipping up potions or being a master thief with an extensive set of lockpicks.
“I believe this is my area of expertise,” Alek said. He grabbed a rather wicked-looking letter opener from the desk and shimmied it between the drawer and the desk. Clearly he had no compunction about invading a man’s privacy, a flaw rooted in his dislike of Chambers. After a few moments of wiggling the blade, the lock clicked, and the drawer opened.
Alek gave her a triumphant grin, twirling the letter opener between his fingers.
“When did you become so dodgy?” she asked, a little breathless at the sight. Honestly, such a display was crass, but she found herself appreciative of her husband’s less savory skills.
Her husband.
Solenne purred at the notion.
Alek quirked a brow, and that connection between them buzzed. Her toes curled, and she wanted nothing more than to skip the reception waiting downstairs and go directly to the wedding night.
“Oh, how odd,” Charlotte murmured, disrupting Solenne’s less-than-modest thoughts. Her friend unrolled a detailed architect’s drawing of Marechal House.
“Why does Colonel Chambers have the blueprints for my house?” Several Xs and notations cluttered the map, written in a hurried hand.
The doorknob rattled, giving just enough warning for Charlotte to shove the papers back into the drawer.
“What’s going on in here?” Chambers asked. He loomed in the door, somehow taking the light from the room. Solenne wanted to dip her neck and beg forgiveness.
“Oh, darling, I wanted to show Solenne your globe of the Earth. You know how she loves colonial history. I fully expect her and Alek to be too occupied to visit before they leave,” Charlotte said, her voice bubbly and without a hint of mistruth. Even knowing the truth about the locked desk drawer, Solenne wanted to believe her.
When did Charlotte learn to lie so effectively? Could she teach Solenne?
“Hmm, it is interesting,” Chambers intoned. His gaze swept over the room, as if searching for mischief.
