“Ah. That explains why you’re taking this in stride.”
She stopped in her tracks so suddenly it seemed as if she wanted to say something important. Instead, though, she shook her head and started to move again. “The sex didn’t hurt.”
“What?”
Despite the gloom, he saw the color rise in her cheeks. “Sex with you probably kept me from going completely crazy. So, thanks for that.”
“I can’t tell if that means I passed or failed.”
“Oh, you more than passed,” she said. “You kept my mind off the fact that somebody probably wants to kill us all. You’re a better lover than you are a lawyer, and you’re a damn good lawyer.”
“Hey, two compliments.”
She gave him a reproachful look. “Don’t get used to it.”
“Right. Well, keep your eyes peeled.”
“I know we’re searching for Berta, but I honestly don’t want to find her down here.” Jane sighed. “What do you think happened to her?”
“I don’t know,” he answered truthfully, despite the tightness in his chest. “If the killer didn’t get her, maybe she ran off and locked herself away somewhere to keep safe.”
“I hope we don’t find her down here. If we do end up finding her, that’ll mean we’re too late. As long as she’s missing there’s hope.”
“Hope is an illusion,” he said.
She stopped in her tracks again. “No, it’s not. Hope is all we have sometimes.”
Gabriel halted and gave her a hard stare. “Hope is a trick. A waste of time. You think it’s real, but it’s not.”
“You have hope that we’ll find Berta alive,” she accused.
“No, it’s not hope that’s keeping me going,” he said with a firm shake of his head.
“What is it, then?”
“It’s the knowledge that if some psycho is lurking around down here, I’ll shoot his head off if he tries anything. That’s not hope, Jane. That’s accepting reality,” he said. “Hope isn’t going to save Berta, or the rest of us for that matter.”
“The police will get us out of here.”
“The cops will get here eventually. Which means it might be too late by then. So I’m not relying on some strangers getting me out of this. Nobody is coming to save us, Jane,” he said. “There’s no knight in shining armor coming to rescue you.”
“I’m not a child,” she snapped.
“Good. So you know this isn’t one of your fairytales.”
She glared, anger turning her eyes into a pair of flames. “For your information, some fairytale heroines made the villains pay at the end of their stories.”
“You think I’m the villain of this story?”
“I don’t know what you are,” she fired back. “What I do know is that the only way through this is to work together. That’s what hope is to me. Trying even when it’s hopeless.”
That was probably why she had kept fighting to inherit the castle, even though she clearly didn’t have the resources to mount a decent legal defense. It was impressive, though he hated to admit it. “So that explains why you’re so damn stubborn.”
“Excuse me?”
“You’ve been a thorn in my side for months,” he said.
She took a step towards him, the proximity of her body driving him crazy. “Good.”
“You know you can’t win this castle,” he bit out in frustration.
“Still all business, even now.”
“I thought you’d approve. Thinking about the future where my client and I inevitably beat you sounds like hope to me.” He knew he was goading her like an idiot. Pushing her buttons in a bid to get another one of their heated arguments going. Anything was better than facing the chance that they were doomed.
“You are such an ass,” she said. “I can’t believe I actually thought you were selfless.”
“What did you say?”
“You heard me the first time, Gabriel.”
“Yeah. I did.” He paused, surprised to find that he actually gave a damn about her opinion of him. With the exception of his parents, he didn’t give a shit what people thought of him. If his opponents mistook his ruthlessness for cruelty, that was their problem. “It’s just weird seeing myself through your eyes.”
“Yeah, well, at least somebody sees you,” she said softly. “I’m just plain Jane.”
“There’s nothing plain about you.”
Without warning her mouth was on his, those soft, ripe lips parting instantly. He pulled her even closer, wrapping her tightly in his arms, his grip on the gun never loosening. The heat of her body against his was so intense that it banished the chill. Hungry for a real taste of her, Gabriel swirled his tongue into her mouth with a groan. She tasted like fire. Hot and forbidden. A dangerous combination he couldn’t resist even if he wanted to.
Jane might have been invisible to the people around her, but she wasn’t to him. Beneath her subtle, delicate beauty was a raging passion he’d never get enough of. She kissed him with an eager abandon that stirred his blood.
Deepening the kiss he stroked his tongue over hers, coaxing a soft moan from her.
It was insane to do this down here of all places. But somehow, in this subterranean cemetery with the dead, Gabriel realized that he hadn’t felt this alive since he’d lost his brother. For years he had been numb. Going through the motions of his legal career. He had been like the walking dead. Moving through life but never living. It had taken this stubborn, maddening woman to bring him back to life.
She tore her mouth away, chest heaving as she fought to catch her breath. “This is crazy, right, Gabriel? Tell me this is crazy.”
“It is. But Jane—”
Her mouth fell open. “What is that?”
He took a step away from her and turned to follow her gaze. Looking down where she was pointing the flashlight, Gabriel noticed the lid of the sarcophagus wasn’t properly shut like the rest of the others. In fact, from the angle of the lid, it looked like the tomb had been disturbed. Recently.
“Somebody’s definitely been here,” he said, noticing how little dust there was on the sarcophagus lid.
Jane moved closer, holding the light steady. “Should we…should we open it?”
“We’re gonna have to,” he said grimly, not able to fathom what the hell they were going to find inside. He hoped like hell it wasn’t Berta’s body. Without hesitating, he handed over the rifle to Jane. “I’ll take the top off.”
“Okay.” She kept the flashlight on the sarcophagus while he grabbed the stone lid and heaved with all his might.
Gabriel looked inside. “There’s nothing in here.” He shook his head in confusion. What the hell could possibly explain an empty tomb? “This doesn’t make sense.”
“Gabriel. Look.” Jane flashed the light on the overturned coffin lid.
“Fuck.” Gabriel stared at the stone in horrified disbelief. There, on the underside of the lid, were unmistakable markings. Proof that someone had clawed at the stone with their fingernails.
8
Jane’s heart was racing so fast she could hear it.
Distraught at the sight of the claw marks on the coffin lid, she took a step back. “What does this mean?”
“Maybe these markings were made a long time ago,” he said.
Her whole body started to shake in terror. “And if they were made recently?”
“We have to tell the others.” He took the rifle back from her. “Come on, Jane, let’s get you out of here.”
Jane didn’t argue. Couldn’t. It didn’t matter when those claw marks had been made. Somebody must have been buried alive in that tomb.
She was in so much shock that words weren’t coming to her anymore. Her fear hadn’t left her ever since she saw Heidi’s body at the bottom of the stairs. Sometimes she managed to get control of it long enough to act, but the terror was paralyzing her now. No matter how well Gabriel thought she was handling this nightmare, she knew that deep down she was still a scared ten-yea
r-old girl who couldn’t cope with the weight of such a gruesome truth.
As a child, she had been sure there were monsters under her bed. Then she had learned that her father was a rampaging killer. Nothing was more monstrous than that. Except now there was an unseen killer in the castle, picking them off one by one. Maybe even burying some of the victims alive.
Another wave of shock washed over her so forcefully she barely felt Gabriel take her hand and lead her back the way they had come.
When they finally made it back out of the catacombs to the ground floor of the castle, Jane sucked in a deep breath. The castle might have smelled faintly of mildew, but it was fresh air compared to the stale air down in the crypt.
She followed him to the great hall to find Timothy and the manservant heading their way. Gabriel guided her to a chair by the fireplace.
“Why don’t you sit down while I talk to the others,” Gabriel suggested.
Jane nodded, still too shaken to speak. Slowly, she stretched out her hands to start warming herself. Maybe if the chill went away, she’d be back to her old self again. Soon enough, she was getting feeling back in her fingers.
By the time she was starting to breathe a little easier, Gabriel approached her.
“Any news about Berta?” she asked.
Gabriel sat opposite her and shook his head. “No. The others haven’t found a trace of her.”
“What did they say about the coffin?” She was already dreading the answer, but part of her had to know.
“According to Emmerich, it’s probably one of the coffins that hasn’t been assigned to anyone yet,” he said. “It’s a tomb for some future von Westen.”
“Right.” That made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. “So if nobody has occupied that tomb…”
“Those claw marks are relatively recent,” he said.
“Oh my goodness.”
“It’s not necessarily Berta.” He paused to look over his shoulder, as if to make sure that the others were out of earshot. “Maybe this has happened before.”
“What?”
“I mean, if you wanted to kill somebody and get rid of them, this would be the perfect place to do it. This might not be this castle’s first murder spree—”
“Stop.” She closed her eyes, desperate to take a second to gather her wits. When she opened them again, she looked right into Gabriel’s green eyes. Green eyes that seemed to burn with their own flames. There was no fear on his face. None.
Instead, she saw resolve. Beneath that, something else. Passion. No, something far more primal. His gaze was possessive.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked.
“Like what?”
“Like you’re the hunter and I’m the prey,” she replied, a tingle running down her spine.
“If you want to accuse me of something, then spit it out.”
“Tell me you have nothing to do with any of this.”
“I have nothing to do with this, Jane,” he said flatly.
Jane wanted to believe him. To trust him. Every part of her body demanded that. She craved his touch too much to give him up now. “How can you be so calm, then? So unafraid after what we just saw?”
“Goals have a way of keeping me focused,” he said. “Right now, my goal is you.”
“Me?”
He leaned forward, his gaze unwavering. “I will protect you.”
She shivered at the hunger blazing in his eyes. “I thought you said no knight was coming to my rescue.”
“I’m not a knight.” He got up, threw the gun sling over his shoulder, and held out his hand to her. “Knights have honor. I have none. Which means that I’ll handle anybody who comes after you without mercy.”
The place between her legs quivered and she almost forgot to breathe. Reaching for his large hand, she allowed him to help her to her feet. The sensation of her hand enveloped in his much larger one made her stomach do flips. No matter how hard she tried to stay calm around Gabriel, she couldn’t help but react to him.
No man had ever been so driven to protect her before. Most of her relationship with men had been all surface-level. Though she had longed for passion in her own life, she had never experienced this intense sort of attraction. They were explosive together. It scared her. Being this out of control with a man was a brand new experience for her, and it shook her to her core.
When she stared into his eyes again, she thought about asking him to reconsider. Thought about telling him there was no point in him risking his life just for her. She wasn’t worth the trouble, when he had his own safety to think of. But when she looked into his eyes, she wavered. The hard stare that dared her to contradict him silenced her. There was no talking him out of anything. Least of all this.
He’d kill for her. Jane knew that without having to ask.
With her hand still in his, they walked to the others to talk over their next plan of action. They soon settled on getting something to eat and then barricading themselves in one of the enormous bedrooms on one of the upper floors. There was a bathroom and a kitchenette close by, so the room seemed well chosen.
Ordinarily she would have found the room cozy, but terror pervaded everything. Jane was too exhausted to point out her fear. That in trying to keep the danger out, they might have been unwittingly locking themselves in with the killer. For all she knew, the manservant was just waiting to turn his rifle on them all and finish them off.
She shivered as she headed over to a mattress to claim it.
Though the storm was still raging outside, the groundskeeper made yet another phone call to the authorities to inform them about Berta’s disappearance. Once again the police promised to get to Wintergarten as quickly as possible, but they were having a hard time getting through so many feet of snow.
There was nothing they could do but try to stay alive and wait out the storm. When night fell, they got onto mattresses and into sleeping bags that Agnes had insisted on laying out for them. Then, with Gabriel taking charge, the men decided to keep watch through the night, with the groundskeeper taking first watch.
It took forever for Jane to sleep. Between the howling wind and her fear that she was trapped in the bedroom with a murderer, sleep didn’t come easily at all. Only Gabriel’s presence, as he got into the sleeping bag beside her, calmed her enough to eventually drift off to sleep.
She woke up the next morning to the smell of coffee.
Gabriel was shaking her shoulder gently, a steaming mug of coffee in his outstretched hand. “Morning. Thought you could use this.”
Jane took the mug gratefully and took a sip that warmed her. “It’s chilly in here.”
“The fire died down, so the groundskeeper is getting it going again,” Gabriel said, gesturing to the fireplace. Everyone else was already awake and seemingly glued to their cell phones for some reason. “Sleep well?”
“Well enough.”
He helped her to her feet and they moved to sit by the fireplace. “Got some good news this morning.”
“You’ve found Berta?”
“No, unfortunately,” he said with a sad shake of his head. “Cell phone service and Wi-Fi are back.”
“So, does that mean the police are on their way?”
“They’re trying to get through the snow now since they’re still unable to fly in this weather,” he replied. “The storm has died down somewhat, so they’re going to attempt to get here.”
“How long will that take?”
“They said between twelve and thirty-six hours,” he said grimly.
“I hope they get here sooner rather than later,” she said.
“Yeah, we all do. Plus, the Wi-Fi is still pretty spotty. Messages and calls seem to be coming in, but it’s been hard to log on to anything.”
“Better than nothing.” She took a sip of her coffee. With the police now trying to get to them, her spirits felt a little lighter. There was light at the end of the tunnel. They just had to outlast the killer long enough for the
police to arrive. “Any other updates?”
“The cops contacted Berta’s family.” He sighed. “Naturally, her family is frantic.”
“Oh, shit. Of course they must be worried.” She chewed her lower lip. “With some of the services returning, I don’t know if I even want to tell my mother what’s happening. I don’t want to scare her.”
“I can’t tell my parents,” he said.
“Don’t want to scare them?”
“They’ve already lost one child. My brother,” he said softly. “They won’t survive if something happens to their remaining son.”
“Oh, Gabriel.” Tears stung the back of her eyes. She blinked them away, surprised at how much she felt for him. “I didn’t know.”
He gazed at the fire, his eyes seeming to look beyond the flames. It was as if he was in a completely different place now. Far away from the terror of the castle, drowning in his own anguish and suffering. “It was a long time ago.”
“I’m sorry.” She reached out and took his hand, squeezing it gently. Jane didn’t know the exact circumstances of his grief, but she was going to be there for him.
“Best to focus on the present,” he said, though he squeezed back.
“Having a goal helps you,” she said, recalling what he had said the day before.
“That’s right.” He looked back at her, giving her a sad smile that made her heart hurt. Jane had been so sure he was this high-powered lawyer without any problems or cares. But she had been wrong. The hidden grief he carried must have been unbearable at times. “Any suggestions?”
“We still haven’t found any contact details for Heidi’s family,” she said. “They deserve to know what happened to her.”
He nodded. “You’re right. The problem is, there didn’t seem to be much of anything in Otto’s study when we checked.”
“Think we could check her room next?”
“That’s a good idea,” he said, his expression turning thoughtful. “We can eat breakfast and then get started on that.”
After taking a quick shower and eating a breakfast of warm porridge, she followed Gabriel to talk to the manservant about searching Heidi’s room.
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