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“We really found it?” Relief crashes through me. We’re one step closer to clearing Ryland’s name.
“I believe so. Good job, Trouble. Now we need to find the room it happened in.” Jedrik turns the item in his hold again before staring off into the distance. “You know, there’s a secret passageway in this room… I’m trying to remember where it’s at. I don’t think Andrik or I have ever used it before.”
He takes a few steps and runs his gloved hand along the edge of the mantle. Not finding what he’s looking for, he continues to press on different areas in the decorative molding that’s part way up the wall. Then he moves on to touching the wall sconces. Finally, he finds one that moves like a lever, and a panel pops open.
“Ready?” he asks over his shoulder while slipping the candlestick into a clean garbage bag and sealing it away into a sling he brought to hold any evidence. Then he takes off his gloves, tucking them into his pocket. I follow his lead, happy to be free of the odd texture.
The thought of the killer using the passages also makes me nervous. What if he’s in there too?
Jedrik holds out his hand for me to take, and the moment I’m in his grip, my nerves calm. I’ll be safe as long as I have him with me.
We have to duck to enter the passageway, but once we’re in, there’s enough space to stand and walk normally. The moment the panel clicks back in place, we’re plunged into darkness. I hold my free hand in front of my face, and sure enough, I can’t see it. The last time I was in a passageway with the twins, we had a flashlight.
As if he’s having the same thought, Jedrik says, “I need to keep a flashlight in my pocket from now on. You okay, Trouble?”
“Yeah. Sorry in advance for how many times I’ll step on your heels.” He chuckles and squeezes my hand.
“Don’t worry, I won’t hold it against you. If you need to, use your other hand to trail along the wall. It should only take us a few minutes to reach the end.”
I nod my head in response and quickly realize he can’t see me, but before I can voice anything, we’re already walking. After a few minutes, and only stepping on his heel twice, I feel the need to break the eerie silence. “I liked the last time we used the passageways more.”
“Mm, so did I. But that could be because you were going into heat. I should’ve taken care of you myself instead of taking you to the doctor. I feel like I was cheated from having a taste of you,” he muses.
There’s a small throb in my core, and I have to bite my lip to keep a moan from escaping. My mind goes to the flirtatious conversation we had about him giving me the mating bite. Fuck, I can’t wait for that.
“Maybe we should fix that.” My words come out breathier than I intended.
Jedrik growls and his grip tightens. I swear his steps speed up, and before I know it, there’s light coming from an opening. This time we don’t have to crouch to leave the passageway. It takes me a moment to get used to the brightness after being in pitch black, but once my vision is restored, I find myself in what might be one of my favorite places in the mansion.
The conservatory is beautiful with glass walls and ceiling attaching it to the side of the mansion. Lush greenery fills the room with beautiful flowers of all kinds. Some plants are rooted in the ground, while others are in pots hanging from trees or fixtures along the walls. There are pebbled paths leading through the vegetation and fairy lights strung across the ceiling. They add such peacefulness to the area, with it being so dark outside.
As if the room couldn’t get any better, there’s a soft gurgling sound of a water feature from somewhere deeper in the room.
Everything about the area speaks to my soul. I wish we were here for pleasure instead of being on the hunt for where Matthew was killed. What I wouldn’t give to have a few spare hours and my Kindle to read a smutty story…
“Absolutely breathtaking,” Jedrik murmurs.
“It really is,” I reply without looking at him. Small hairs on the back of my neck lift, like someone is staring at me, which is when I finally glance to my side. Sure enough, Jedrik has his gaze locked on me. “What?”
“The way your face lights up with joy. It’s breathtaking,” he whispers, awe in his voice. My cheeks instantly heat, and I can’t help but look away. I’m not sure how to react to an adoring Jedrik. He’s my hard, bad boy alpha, and yet he knows how to make my stomach flip like a schoolgirl with a crush.
His smirk is back, giving away the fact he knows what he did to me. “Come on,” he holds out his hand for me to take, “let’s see if we can find any evidence of this being the location Matthew was murdered.”
My hand fits into his perfectly, and I simply enjoy the warmth of it as we return to the depressing task of searching for clues. We slowly wind along the paths, searching for any sign of disturbances. It could almost be tranquil if not for our quest. Which, now that I think about it, seems like an odd place for Matthew to be. We could be barking up the wrong tree entirely.
As we wind around a curve, the sharp scent of bleach hits me in the face like a sucker punch. It’s overwhelming when I’ve grown used to the sweet smell of maple coming from Jedrik. He must smell it too, because he stops walking. I watch as he squats and stares at the area in front of us.
After a moment, he glances up at me. “What do you see, Trouble?” Something in my chest warms with him asking for my input instead of simply telling me what he sees. Like he’s taking the moment to teach me, even though he’s made a comment before about not being good at it.
I take a moment to study the area in front of us, wanting to make sure I catch everything. “The gravel in the path here seems to be raked over. It’s not as compact as over here,” I point to the area behind us, “which, paired with the bleach, leads me to believe this is where the killer cleaned the blood.”
“Mmm, very good, my little sleuth.” Jedrik growls from deep in his chest, and the sound has me pressing my legs together. “Do you see anything else?”
He hands me another set of gloves, which I pull on.
Wanting a closer view, I kneel, the pebbles dig into my knees as I swipe at the area in front of me with my gloved hands. Underneath a few of the rocks, I find a chipped fingernail. It’s painted the same color that I’ve seen on Mrs. Violet. I hold it up for Jedrik to see, and he digs in his pocket for a ziplock baggie. “Good find.”
Before he can ask, I’m already searching for any other clues there might be. I even search in the dirt next to the path, which is where I find a drop of blood on the bottom side of a leaf. He opens another baggie for me to save it as evidence too.
