Page 113 of The Study of Poisons
“I don’t know. We need to search the manor.”
“You mean,Ineed to?”
“No,we. I grew up there. I know every inch.” Her shoulders stiffened with stubborn determination. “When do we start?”
Arguing would be a waste of time. “Now. We have four hours until dawn. What are we looking for?”
Yelena explained they were searching for either a circle of diamonds or a painted wheel. Two strange and rather specific things, but he didn’t want to waste time asking how she knew. Diamonds enhanced magic, but Valek couldn’t imagine Brazell having enough of the gemstones to support the amount of power around the manor and factory.
He stopped in the barracks to change while Yelena waited outside. The Commander’s soldiers filled the beds, and most were asleep. Valek stripped down to his black sneak suit and grabbed a bull’s-eye lantern and a black tunic for Yelena. Her red shirt would be too noticeable even in the dark halls of the house. Then he paused by Ari and Janco’s bunk.
Ari cracked an eye open. Valek whispered their plans to him just in case. Not that Ari and Janco could do much if something went wrong, but he wanted to keep them apprised of the situation.
Valek joined Yelena and waited as she changed into his shirt and hid her cloak. Then she directed him to an unlocked back door. They entered and he lit the lantern, sliding the metal shutter until only a thin beam of light shone.
Without any hesitation, Yelena strode to the east wing of the house. They were on the ground floor, and, as they reached the entrance to the wing, Yelena’s confidence wavered. When they continued into the wing’s main hallway, she glanced around nervously and bit down on her knuckle hard enough to draw blood. The area smelled of dust, stale sweat, body odor, and blood.
He picked the locks on the doors. A few of the rooms contained storage, others were guest rooms, and there were a couple of offices. Then they entered a large space that was filled with tables, various glassware, burners, jars of chemicals, and tubing, indicating a laboratory. A thick layer of dust coated everything. Valek suspected this entire level had been Reyad’s domain.
As Valek explored the lab, he spotted implements of torture. No wonder Yelena jumped at every shadow. Had she been a test subject for Reyad’s experiments? If so, then the man died too easily.
He wondered why she’d brought him here. This wing had been abandoned and he doubted they’d find either diamonds or a painted design. When she halted before a room across from the lab and started trembling, Valek had a flash of insight. She either wanted to face her demons, or this was her way of trusting Valek, by showing him what she’d endured at Reyad’s hands.
Yelena waited in the hall while he entered the room. It was Reyad’s bedroom. This had been where she’d killed him. The sheets had been stripped from the bed, but a large brown spot stained the mattress. Valek opened a chest and peered inside. He immediately wished he hadn’t. The devices stored within were used for causing pain to another person.
Valek searched the rest of the room and concluded that Reyad was one sadistic bastard, and a depraved individual that had needed to die. That should never have been born. Horrified and sickened by what he’d found, he left and joined Yelena in the hall.
He met her gaze and fervently hoped Yelena had killed Reyad before he could harm her, but from her reactions of just being here and the fact she’d been younger, he knew she’d been a victim. Questions bubbled up his throat. She must have endured so much. Yet, he swallowed them down. She’d either confide in him or not. He would not press her.
Pulling the door shut, Valek continued down the hall. He stopped at the next room and rubbed his forehead, marveling that she had the strength to return here despite the memories.
The next couple rooms revealed little. Almost at the end of the hall, he unlocked a door and stepped back as the acrid stench of excrement hit him in the face. The beam from his lantern illuminated a group of people. They had greasy hair, dirt-streaked faces, and rags hung off their emaciated frames. They flinched away from the light but didn’t make a sound.
When Valek entered, he spotted the chains anchoring them to the floor. Brazell’s manor was a literal house of horrors. The prisoners stared vacantly at him. More mindless victims of Criollo? Was this the Commander’s fate?
He wove through them. They sat in three circles like ripples in a pond. Lines had been painted on the floor. “Who are you?” he asked a man. No reply. “Why are you here?” he asked another. Still nothing.
Yelena cried out in pain. She knelt next to a young girl, stroking her shoulder and whispering a name—Carra. Were these the children who lived in Brazell’s orphanage? He scanned them, noting ages. Then he recognized a pattern. The position of the people created a wagon wheel design.
“What now?” Yelena asked Valek. Her voice shook.
“You’re arrested and thrown in the dungeon,” Mogkan said.
They spun. The adviser stood in the doorway. Red hot fury blazed within Valek.
Mogkan.
Needs.
To.
Die.
Now.
Valek charged. He would tear the man into tiny pieces with his bare hands. Mogkan retreated as Valek burst from the room. Eight soldiers stood in a semi-circle. Their drawn swords were pointed at Valek’s chest. He stopped short and raised his hands before they decided to skewer him.
CHAPTER21
