Chapter 16 - The Hand in the DarknessVictor released the telephone and reached into the darkness.
“Ethan!”
His fingers found empty air.
A child gasped near the hidden doorway.
Victor moved toward the sound, struck a metal cabinet and nearly fell. Lily called Ethan’s name while Adrian searched for the emergency switch.
A white beam appeared.
The woman with Celeste’s face held a small flashlight in one hand.
Her other hand was wrapped around Ethan’s wrist.
Victor crossed the chamber before she could speak. He pulled Ethan against his chest and pushed the woman back.
“Do not touch him.”
She did not resist.
“I was pulling him away from the door.”
A heavy object struck the other side of the wall.
The metal entrance began to close.
Adrian found a red lever and pulled it. Emergency lights flickered on.
The woman stood several feet away. Her white coat was stained at the sleeve. A thin scar ran behind her left ear.
She looked exactly like Celeste.
But her eyes were different.
Celeste’s eyes had always softened when she looked at Ethan.
This woman studied him as though confirming an identity.
Victor noticed a silver band around her wrist.
A number was engraved on it.
ORCHARD 7.
Lily saw it too.
“You were one of the children,” she whispered.
The woman looked at her.
“My name is Mara.”
Behind them, the hidden door shuddered again.
Mara turned toward it.
“August knows the archive has opened.”
“Where is he?” Victor asked.
“Inside the mansion.”
Footsteps sounded above the chamber.
Not one person.
At least six.
May you like
Mara switched off the flashlight.
“And he brought men who know every passage your father built.”
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