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I turn my head toward her warily. How did she know what I was thinking? “Do you read minds, Addy?”
She barks out a single laugh. “No, but it’s not hard to work out. You’re fretting, and it can only be about my father.”
“I’m worried about you, Addy. No matter what happened with your dad and me, I know this must be very difficult for you.”
“He’s all I have,” she says, as tears cascade down her face. “My mother and I have never had a relationship like my father and me. He’s my everything,” she chokes. “I can’t understand why he did this.”
I sigh, placing my hand on top of hers. “I won’t lie and tell you I like your father. What he did to me... well, it was awful. But sometimes people do things for reasons they think are noble. It’s okay to hear him out, Addy. I wouldn’t blame you for giving him the benefit of the doubt. He’s your family.”
Her lips form a thin line as she examines my face. I’m sure she finds my words to be insincere considering what the man put me through, but I mean it. I’ll never like Count Dupré, no matter what the verdict is, but I’d never hold my feelings against her. He made his contempt for humans clear, and because of that, I could never trust him.
“Why would you defend him?” she finally asks, skepticism all over her expression.
I shake my head. “Oh, I’m not defending him. He has no regard for human life and that’s concerning, knowing that Julian was ready to keep him at the top of the Council.” Her head falls, eyes lowered to the blanket. “But that’s just it, Addy. He thought I was just some insignificant human. It doesn’t make it right, but I understand that to him, hiding me behind that wall was the equivalent of me squashing a bug.”
“That’s just it, Marina. What was he trying to hide by trapping you in that room? Why was he even in there?”
I contemplate my next move. The only other person who knows about the chest is Law. I should tell Julian first, but after everything we’ve both been through, I feel like this could help Addy and I focus on something other than her father’s imprisonment and Julian storming Marcellus’s.
Jumping from the bed, I grab the key from the top drawer of the armoire and head to the spot where I placed the box under my bed earlier. I hesitate for one moment before plopping it down on the bed between Adèle and me.
Her brow rises in question.
“I believe this is what your dad was looking for. This key that he had around his neck—I’m willing to bet it opens this box.”
“What is it?” she asks, scooting closer to get a good look.
“I’m not sure. I haven’t peeked yet.” I bite my lower lip. “I’m afraid of what I’ll find.”
“What’s there to be afraid of?” she asks, eyes narrowed.
“Let’s just say my stumbling across this box and that secret room was not... normal.”
Both of her eyebrows lift in question. “How did you come to find out about the box?” she presses, pursing her lips. For the first time, she seems suspicious of me.
I don’t want to tell her about my dead sister talking to me, but I want her to trust me. She’s important to Julian and that makes her important to me. So I tell her everything.
She exhales. “Let me get this straight. Your twin sister’s ghost guided you? That’s... insane, really.” She says that last part mostly to herself. As much as I want to argue, she isn’t wrong. It is insane. “Why do you think your sister would want you to find this?”
It’s my turn to expel a harsh breath. “My best guess is that is has something to do with the missing journal your dad spoke of. It has to be about the familiar legend.”
She nods her head contemplatively. “That key he handed to Julian. Is it what opens that box?”
“I believe so.”
“Should we see what’s inside?” She clenches her pearly white teeth as if to say,Please? Can we?
I’ve waited for so long, and as much as I want to open that box, I feel like maybe I should wait for Julian and Law to return.
“I do, but I think Julian should be here too.”
She groans. “That’ll be forever. They just left.”
My back straightens at the knowledge. I can’t help but hate that she knows more than I do once again. I’ve been sitting in this room worrying to death about what’s happening, and they haven’t even gotten there yet.
“Marina,” Addy coos. “I only know because I ran into them on my way here. They were in the foyer.”
I smile at her. “It’s not a big deal.”
