Page 97 of Secrets of the Six

"Is he coming upstairs?" Remus asks.

I shake my head. "He was playing with the dogs."

"Playing?" His eyes widen in disbelief. "With those dogs?"

I roll my eyes and twirl my index finger. "We need to wrap this up and go."

"I have two pages left," Olli says, not glancing up.

"All right, we'll go out the window in one minute. I for one don't want to be in here when those beasts come up the stairs." Remus points for us to exit through the narrow window and shimmy down the garden railings to the ground level.

With one hand, Olli secures the copied documents in his satchel but stops moving when he comes to the last paper and goes pale.

"What's wrong?" I ask when he gasps.

Remus looks down at Olli, and motions for him to head to the window he's opened for us to leave through, but the redhead refuses to move a muscle, as if he's frozen.

I abandon the door and crouch beside him to read the paper he's clutched in his hand. As my eyes quickly scan over each word, I finally find the name of who will be executed, and my mouth dries instantly. Glancing up at a ready-to-go Remus, his eyes widen when I meet his gaze.

"Who is it?" he asks, voice hoarse, shoulders tense.

I don't know how to handle this situation except to answer his question with raw honesty. "The prisoner they're executing is Boudica Kane."

The air feels as if it's been sucked out of the room. Remus stills. His eyes water, though his face is riddled with confusion.

"That's not possible," he rasps, shaking his head, brows pinching together. "My mother was executed alongside my father fifteen years ago. She can't be alive."

"Her name is there, Remus." Olli stands only to stop dead in his tracks.

Footsteps in the foyer echo and the creak of the steps alert us to Rogelio and his dogs coming our way.

I know Remus is being flooded with a thousand questions and a plethora of emotions discovering his mother is not only alive, but she's been kept prisoner all these long years enduring what I can assume is a multitude of horrors. But if we don't get out of here now, we'll have to fight our way out, and that will only tip off Severo of our presence. Any chance we have of rescuing Boudica from death will be rendered useless.

Coming to the conclusion I have to be the voice of reason, I whisper, "We have to go. Now."

Olli doesn't hesitate. He tosses the file back into the drawer and closes it. Swiping his satchel and swooping it over his arm, he accidentally knocks a candlestick off the edge of Severo's desk and it crashes to the floor with a rattling thud.

Rogelio's footsteps stop and we wait in complete silence to hear if we've been discovered or not. A collective breath is loosened when we don't hear the mastiffs barking to alert their master of our trespassing, but we can't tempt fate again.

Finally, as if sense has found Olli, he slips by Remus, glides out the window and grabs ahold of the downspout to begin his descent to the garden. Per our escape plan, Olli will hide in the bushes below until Remus and I join him to sprint across the yard together. Olli must reach the bushes because Remus jerks his head, silently commanding me to follow suit. I know he's in pain, but I'm grateful he's snapped out of his stupor and has taken command again.

But as I take a step toward him, toward the window that will grant me freedom, the door is kicked open and Rogelio stands in the threshold armed with his rapier.

The fury lines marring his face fade into shock when his eyes meet mine. "Elena?"

Chapter 35

Ines

I raise my hands in surrender, knowing if Remus and I make any sudden movements, Rogelio could sick his mastiffs on us. I'm surprised he hasn't instructed them to rip us to shreds already but then it hits me Rogelio addressed me as Elena, and realize I never retied my mask after sedating the dogs. Shit. Any hope of getting out of the Murrieta estate undetected is gone and my secret identity has been blown.

"Elena, what is going on?" Rogelio's voice trembles and his eyes are filled with anguish. His gaze darts from me to the masked vigilante by my side and his brows furrow. "Who are you? Are you trying to rob my father?"

"Rogelio," I say softly, but he doesn't peel his narrowed gaze from Remus. "Please, lower your weapon. I can explain – "

"Take off your mask!" Rogelio orders. "Take it off or I'll instruct Socorro to spill your entrails on the floor."

I flash Remus a warning look, pleading for him to comply. The two men have obviously had their issues in the past, but Rogelio is scared, and if I know anything about frightened men, they'd rather strike first than be left on the defensive.