Chapter 6 - Blood on the LedgerGabriel collapsed before anyone could ask another question.
Elias carried him downstairs.
A private doctor arrived in twelve minutes.
I stood outside the medical room while blood stained the marble floor.
Evan joined me.
“Do you believe him?”
“I don't know.”
“You think Daniel is alive?”
“I want to.”
He nodded.
“So do I.”
The door opened.
The doctor stepped out.
“He'll survive the surgery.”
Elias followed.
“Can he talk?”
“Not for several hours.”
“Then he stays here.”
I looked at Elias.
“You said Daniel found the ledger.”
“He did.”
“And Gabriel knows where he is.”
“Probably.”
“Then why didn't he tell us?”
“He's protecting someone.”
“Who?”
Elias looked toward Evan.
My brother noticed.
“Me?”
Elias's expression hardened.
“Maybe.”
That night, I couldn't sleep.
I walked through the mansion corridors.
The place felt different now.
Every hallway seemed to contain a secret.
Every locked door looked like a mouth refusing to speak.
I reached the kitchen.
A woman was standing there.
She turned.
It was Mara, the head housekeeper.
“You're not supposed to be upstairs.”
“I know.”
She stared at me.
Then quietly said:
“Your brother used to say that too.”
I froze.
“What?”
Mara looked around.
“He came here.”
“When?”
“Three years ago.”
“You knew Daniel?”
She nodded.
“Everyone in this house knew him.”
“But Elias said…”
“Elias believed Daniel was dead.”
“Did you?”
Mara's eyes filled with something close to fear.
“No.”
She opened a drawer.
Inside was a key.
Black steel.
Stamped with the number 17.
“Your brother left this for you.”
I took it.
“What does it open?”
“The old wine cellar.”
“There isn't a wine cellar.”
“There is.”
She looked toward the dark hallway.
“It's behind the library.”
My heart pounded.
“Why didn't you tell Elias?”
“Because your brother told me not to.”
“What else did he say?”
Mara lowered her voice.
“He said the man Elias trusted most would betray him.”
I felt cold.
“Gabriel?”
Mara shook her head.
“No.”
She looked directly at me.
“Elias.”
The key felt heavy in my hand.
“You think Elias is the traitor?”
“I think Daniel never trusted anyone completely.”
She closed the drawer.
“Neither should you.”
I went to the library.
The old shelves stretched to the ceiling.
I found a bronze lion's head on the side of one cabinet.
I pressed it.
Nothing.
I pressed again.
A click.
The cabinet moved.
Behind it was a staircase.
I descended.
The air was colder.
At the bottom stood twelve wine racks.
Empty.
Except for one bottle.
I approached.
Its label was handwritten.
For Adeline.
My heart slammed.
I picked it up.
Inside was a rolled piece of paper.
Daniel's handwriting.
If you've come this far, Elias has probably told you enough to make you afraid.
I smiled despite myself.
That sounded like Daniel.
But fear is useful. It keeps you alive.
I kept reading.
The ledger is not a book.
I frowned.
Then:
The ledger is a person.
My blood went cold.
A sound came from the darkness.
I turned.
Nothing.
Then another sound.
A door locking.
I rushed toward the staircase.
It wouldn't open.
Someone had locked me inside.
I banged on it.
“Help!”
No answer.
The lights went out.
I stepped backward.
Then a voice came from behind me.
“You should not have opened that bottle.”
I turned.
A man stood between the wine racks.
I couldn't see his face.
“Who are you?”
He stepped forward.
The emergency light caught his features.
Victor Hale.
He held a gun.
But he didn't aim it at me.
He pointed it toward the floor.
“You've made this much harder than it had to be.”
“Where is Daniel?”
Victor smiled.
“Still asking the wrong question.”
“What question should I ask?”
He raised the gun.
“What happened to the people Daniel tried to protect?”
A metallic sound came from the ceiling.
Then an explosion shook the cellar.
Victor disappeared through a hidden doorway.
The floor beneath me cracked.
May you like
I fell.
The last thing I heard before darkness swallowed me was Elias shouting my name from above.
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