Dark Obsession (Vampire Royals of New York #3) - Sarah Piper Page 0,20
know, Rogozin is his crew.”
“The spies who interviewed me were human.”
“Maybe they had watches or something that hid their true nature. Rudy had us fooled, didn’t he?”
Dorian sighed. She was right. They had no way of knowing what they were up against. No idea who—or what—might show up at Ravenswood for the planned heist.
No idea who might be holding Sasha hostage.
Dorian kept that last bit of worry to himself.
“We’ll figure it out, love,” he said instead. “This is just a starting point.”
She grabbed her phone and snapped a few pictures of the tickets and passport, then slid them back into the envelope.
“Let’s check the digital files.” She plugged the flash drive into the laptop, navigating to the directory and clicking through the drive’s folders. “Shit. The drive itself isn’t encrypted, but the folders are—I can’t open them or copy them over, and we can’t just take the drive—Estas will get suspicious if he knows it’s missing.”
“Ha!” Dorian pointed at her and grinned. For the first time since he’d crossed the threshold into this place, he actually had something to offer—something she needed. “I can crack the encryption.”
Charlotte arched a very sexy eyebrow. “So not only are you a video game nerd, you’re a hacker? Since when?”
“Since University. Well, the most recent go-round.”
“I thought college was all about drinking and getting laid.”
“Not for nerds. We’ve got a special track.”
“Well, well, well.” Charlotte’s smile lit up the dim room. “Now I’m the one who’s impressed.”
“Offering me a spot on the crew, are you?”
“At this rate, we’ll be able to start our own.”
“Assuming we don’t get hell-roasted by a demon tonight. Cheers, then.” Dorian got to work. After just a few moments of tech wizardry, he was able to crack the encryption on the folders. “It appears the files themselves have a slightly stronger encryption, so we’ll need to deal with that back at Ravenswood.”
“Good. Let’s just copy everything onto the external drive so we can get the fuck out of here. We’ve already overstayed our welcome.”
He did as she asked, then passed the flash drive back to her to return to the envelope.
“Anything else of interest in the safe?” he asked as she put everything back in order.
“More envelopes like this one—all different names. I’m sure it’s all fascinating stuff, but we don’t have time to go through it.” She closed up the safe and re-hung the painting. “We need to get moving.”
“It’s too bad, really. We didn’t even get a chance to try out the closet.” Dorian knocked on the back wall behind the coats.
The thunk that greeted him in return was hollow and deep.
He knocked again. Same echo.
“That… doesn’t sound like a solid wall,” Charlotte said, slinging the satchel over her shoulder.
“It most certainly does not.” He shoved the coats aside and ran his hands along the wall until he found what he was looking for—a recessed handle hidden in the shadows. He gave it a tug, and a small, chest-high door the same shade as the wall creaked open, revealing a rickety stairwell that led down into utter darkness.
The scent of rot and piss was overpowering, making his eyes water. Charlotte nearly gagged.
“I really should’ve kept my hands to myself,” he grumbled.
Charlotte grabbed her flashlight and shone it on the stairs, illuminating a narrow passageway just wide enough for one person. The walls were made of cement, the stairs black with mold.
The moment the beam of light hit the landing at the bottom, a faint moaning sound emanated up from the chamber, followed by a metallic scraping that sounded like the rattling of a cage.
“Dorian?” Charlotte gasped and glanced up into his eyes. All the color drained from her face.
He knew immediately where her mind had gone.
“I’ll go investigate,” he said. “You stay here and—”
“No. We’re in this together, remember?”
He slid his hand around the back of her neck and held her gaze, a thousand questions poised on his tongue.
What if it’s Sasha?
What if it isn’t?
What if it breaks you?
What if I can’t put you back together again?
But in the end, he said the only words she’d listen to. The only ones that mattered.
“All right, love.” He reached for her hand, squeezing tight. “Together it is.”
And then he took a deep breath, crouched through the low doorway, and led her down into the abyss.
Chapter Eight
Blood and death, brother. Blood and death…
Cole’s words echoed again through Dorian’s memory as he and Charlotte descended into the darkness, the pungent air damn near choking them both.
Charlotte’s heart rate was completely erratic, fear