carpet that warmed my cold feet covered the floor. The walls were lined with bookshelves, and intricate dark wood moldings framed the doorways and ceiling. There was even a wide curved staircase with an impressive banister at the back of the room, making me think I was in some kind of mansion.
The steel door snapped closed with a heavy clack, then Luc’s mother motioned me forward, away from the door, and I turned and watched as the hooded figure swung a large bookshelf in front of the door, hiding it from view. When the secret door was closed, he stood in front of the bookshelf and stared at me with that same icy stare he’d leveled on me before.
I swallowed hard, wondering who he was. It was clear from the way he looked at me that he didn’t like me. I just wasn’t sure if that was because he knew me personally, or if he was simply as evil as the rest.
“Natalie,” Luc’s mother hissed.
I swung around to see that she was already at the base of the staircase, motioning for me to catch up.
Heart in my throat, I picked up my pace and reached her. No part of me was happy with where she was leading me, but I couldn’t deny that I was relieved to be away from that figure in black.
“Now, listen carefully,” Luc’s mother said to me as she climbed the curved staircase and I followed closely at her heels. “We’re late thanks to your delay in waking. When you see Luciano, be sure to let him know you’ve arrived. And don’t fret if he’s distracted. As a Salvatici wife, you must become tolerant to distractions of all kinds.”
I had no idea what she meant, but I wasn’t stupid enough to ask because she was clearly belittling me again.
Clenching my jaw, I followed her to the second level and down another long hallway, this one immaculately decorated with tall marble columns, intricate paintings hanging on the walls, and expensive sconce lighting.
We took a right, and a left, and another right, and then she stopped at a heavy wood door and rapped once with her knuckles. The door pushed open, and she moved into the dark space.
My heart pounded hard as I stepped into the room. The space wasn’t big, and I had the impression of heavy velvet drapes on both sides of me. Ahead was a light, and shadowed figures in chairs. As I moved into the space, I realized there was a banister, and that this was some kind of balcony, overlooking a vast space.
The door clanged shut at my back. I startled at the sound and whipped around. Two more hooded black figures in white masks stood on each side of the door, blocking my exit.
My adrenaline spiked. I scrambled back, only to realize I was on some kind of step.
“Natalie,” Luc’s mother hissed.
A shiver racked my body as I looked back at Luc’s mother. She was already three steps below me, near the chairs and the railing that overlooked I didn’t know what.
“This way.” She motioned me forward with a curt wave of her hand. “Stop dawdling.”
My pulse thundered in my ears. Slowly, I stepped forward. Sounds echoed from below that railing. Chants. Chains rattling. And a low moan I vaguely recognized.
My feet drew to a stop on the bottom step. The sounds increased in intensity. My arms began to shake as I stood there, not wanting to see what was beyond that railing.
Wrapping them around my waist, I held on and slowly rocked from side to side, telling myself everything was going to be okay. That she was just trying to scare me. Luc wasn’t down there. They wouldn’t hurt him.
Cold fingers wrapped around my wrist, and Luc’s mother jerked me forward, right to the edge of the railing.
“I told you Luciano was waiting, dear girl. See for yourself.”
I gasped at the tight grip she had on my wrist, but when I saw into the room below, my eyes flew wide and the blood drained from my face.
It was some kind of ballroom, circular, with blood-red carpeting and enormous columns that rose to the three-story ceiling. Hooded black figures in white masks formed a giant circle in the middle of the space, but that wasn’t what held my attention. That wasn’t what sent bile sliding up my throat.
What horrified me, what made me gag, was recognizing my Luc, chained to some kind of altar in the middle of the vast space, naked