reminded him. Her matter-of-fact voice was empty of emotion.
A.J. would have been more worried by her tone, but he recognized what she was doing. She’d distanced herself from the tragic event, and it was like she was telling the story of someone else’s life. That it hadn’t been her parents who’d died.
He did his best to keep his feet planted firmly in place even though he wanted to take her in his arms and comfort her. “And how does that involve Dracula?”
“Vlad the Impaler, aka Count Dracula, was allegedly tortured and imprisoned down in the labyrinth where Ana visited both times she was in Hungary. The place was once a prison and torture chamber—”
“Don’t forget a Turkish harem,” Finn interrupted.
“Sex and torture,” Chris said with a laugh. “Sounds about right.”
“Sounds like you’ve been doing it wrong,” Finn teased.
“Define ‘it,’” Chris shot back, and the boys would keep at this forever if Harper didn’t stop them soon.
“Boys,” Ana said at the exact moment Harper clapped twice, grinning that Ana had quickly caught on to their antics and brought them to heel like she was one of them now (and in his mind, she was).
“Anyway,” Roman continued with his lesson, “the network of tunnels, or caves, whatever you want to call it, dates back to prehistoric times. They were used on and off over the centuries. But at some point, they became hidden and were rediscovered during World War One. Some of the tunnel network was unearthed by the government at the time, but there were rumors a lot more existed than just the ones open to the public. The Hungarian government allows a few tours and such down in the labyrinth during certain hours, but they’re even more cautious now given they allegedly foiled a terrorist attack down there in 2011.”
“And this morning, I remembered I entered that labyrinth both times I visited from an entrance not on the official tour,” Ana said, her eyes lighting up this time as if the memory was fresh on her mind. “The Volkovs must have uncovered some of those other tunnels that weren’t open to the public. They were extensive, too.” She squeezed her lids tight for a brief moment. “I remember walking for what felt like fifteen minutes below ground to even get to the public area of the labyrinths.”
“And both of those times you were there for a party, right?” A.J. asked, finally connecting the dots to “The Count,” and great, now he had Sesame Street’s Dracula in his head.
“Yeah. I assume the Volkovs had some government officials in their pocket to allow them into the space after hours. But I attended two masquerade birthday parties down there. The first time I was there it was for a twelve-year-old’s Dracula-themed party. And the last time, was—and I can’t believe I forgot this—for Grigory freaking Volkov. Not that I knew any of their last names at the time. But it was Grigory’s sixteenth birthday.” She visibly cringed. “The celebration was for him, of course, not me.” She covered her mouth for a moment as if ashamed she’d suppressed the memory before now.
“Are you saying we should visit the labyrinths open to the public? Then once down there, try and locate the Volkovs’ secret tunnel network they were once operating, hoping those tunnels lead us to wherever some of the remaining Volkovs might be hiding?” A.J. asked.
“Yes, but also . . .” Ana let go of a deep breath. “What if the night of that first birthday party, my parents used that as cover to steal the ledger and key from Adrik before attending the party? Maybe one of those tunnels was near his home, or a secret compound or something?”
“Do you remember where you first entered the tunnel system that wasn’t on the official tour?” A.J. asked. “And where their tunnels connected with the public labyrinth?”
“I just remember we went in by a river one time, and then the other time was by a road. Very vague and unhelpful. I’m sorry.” Her brows scrunched with apology. “But maybe one of those exterior entrances is close to where Adrik had lived.” She huffed out a frustrated breath as if worried her theory would crumble before it even got wind in its sails.
“And are you suggesting your parents then hid the originals somewhere in the secret tunnels system, right under Adrik’s nose? And they did that three months later, on the night of Grigory’s birthday?” It was a long shot, but maybe? Why wouldn’t an