AllFreeNovel
Share Us
27. Chat
A SOFT FABRIC that smelled of lavender was pressed against my cheek. Softness and fresh scents were all around me. I opened my eyes, expecting to find myself in a damp, dark cell, like the last time the SS officers had caught me.
Instead, I was lying in a plush bed, among silk bed sheets and a heavy quilt. My wet clothes had been swapped with a soft flannel shirt and a pair of trousers. Even my hair had been dried and tied in a braid. I pushed myself up, ignoring the dizziness. Rich-brown wood covered the floor and the walls. A blazing log fire burned in the cast-iron stove, and dark-red brocade curtains covered the window. There was even a pair of armchairs and shelves loaded with books. It was perfect, but for the fact that I was a prisoner.
I slipped out of bed. A pair of fluffy slippers lay on the carpet. I put them on, their warmth wrapping around my feet. If the clothes and the warmth were a strategy to lull me into a false sense of comfort, it wasn’t working. Lukas was a Nazi who wanted to interrogate me. I wasn’t going to believe he’d be kind to me because he was Roy’s brother.
Sunshine filtered through the half-drawn curtains. The window opened to a view of gentle emerald hills and green woods, trimmed bushes and willow trees. A glittering mist hung in the air, like a bride’s veil, adding a touch of romanticism to the view. Heck, there was even a lake with a family of swans gliding over the surface. Was I in a castle? On the right side, a turret rose high above the garden, ending with a pointed roof, and battlements closed the estate. The idyllic scene was ruined by black-uniformed Nazis patrolling the grounds.
I tried the latch in case the Nazis had shown an uncharacteristic lack of precision. The window didn’t budge. Not that I would throw myself from a jump of…a hundred, maybe two hundred feet? Not even in my beast form would I survive. I padded to the other side of the room, brushing past an embroidered tapestry depicting a knight and a damsel. Definitely a castle. The massive wooden door was unlocked, but the face of a stern soldier standing in the wide corridor welcomed me. He didn’t say anything. I didn’t say anything.
Quietly, I shut the door and leaned against it. This room wasn’t a nondescript SS cell in Berlin. But it was a fortress nevertheless. Panic rising in my throat, I swallowed a full glass of water from the decanter on the nightstand. Every fortress had a way out. I had only to live long enough to figure it out. I searched the room for my bag where my cyanide capsule would be, but my clothes and bag weren’t around.
The door inched open, and footsteps came from behind me. I spun around, my breath catching in my chest. For a moment, the striking resemblance between Lukas and Roy sparked a flash of happiness within me. But the SS uniform dampened my enthusiasm.
He removed his hat, letting the dark tendrils of his hair fall over cheeks that were too similar to those I loved to caress. Lukas’s hair was longer than Roy’s, and it jolly suited him.
“Good morning,” he said like a perfect gentleman.
I closed my fists, pondering how much damage I could do with the pitcher.
He arched a brow in the same fashion as Roy would. “We can be civil to each other.”
“There’s nothing civil in kidnapping someone.”
“Oh, that.” He shrugged. “Don’t worry. If everything goes according to the plan, you’ll be out of here in a few days.”
“Dead.”
He chuckled. “That depends on your attitude.”
“Then dead it is.”
“Let’s talk first, shall we?” He stretched out an arm towards the armchairs facing the fire. “Please?”
After loitering, I did as told. Curiosity was scratching me raw. So many questions filled my mind that I could barely keep up with them.
Lukas sat in front of me, his amber eyes on my face. “You must have questions.” And like Roy, he could read me so easily.
I pulled the lapels of my shirt closer. “You said you were the one who asked questions.”
“I’ve changed my mind. For now.”
Lord, his voice was the same as Roy’s. I cleared my throat. “How come you’re alive?”
“Of course you wanted to start withthatquestion.” He slouched back and fixed the flames roaring behind the grate, looking tired. “I’m sure that Roy must have told you an epic tale about how he chased me after I escaped from Raven Park and killed me when we started fighting. How he begged me to return with him. How I stubbornly refused. Or something along those lines.” He glanced at me from underneath heavy-lidded eyes.
I nodded. “He said you didn’t want to come back, and he couldn’t let you go.”
Another chuckle rumbled out of him. “Well, he did. I’m afraid the real story is more disappointing and rather bland compared to the tale he spun.”
“He was very convincing and struck by grief while he told it.”
“I’m sure he was. But his grief was for not having come with me.” A harsh line appeared at the corners of his mouth. “If you believed that Roy would have been able to murder his own brother, then you don’t know him at all.”
His words stung and started a storm of emotions within my chest. Yes, I’d believed that Roy had murdered his brother. Yes, I’d doubted him, but at the same time, I hadn’t thought him capable of doing it. Perhaps Lukas was right. I didn’t know Roy at all. An ache slashed through me, and my beast howled for him. Lukas must have heard it because he tilted his head, as if to listen.
“What happened then?” I asked.
