Chapter 10 Forbidden Study

Chapter 10 Forbidden Study
The night at Ivy Heights is never truly silent. There is the rhythmic hum of security cameras, the low murmur of guards patrolling below, and my own heartbeat, thundering like a drum against my ribs.

I waited until the digital clock in the dorm flickered to 1:00 AM. Rule Number Four: Crossing into the East Wing is high treason. But for a woman who already died in a morgue three years ago, the word “treason” has lost its edge.

I rose slowly. Dominique was fast asleep, her breathing heavy and rhythmic. Lulu, as usual, was curled into a ball, clutching her pillow like a life vest. I slipped into my black tactical gear—a thin thermal suit I’d siphoned from the supply room a week ago. It was tight, sleek, and invisible in the shadows.

I navigated the ventilation duct I had mapped out the night before. The air inside was stale, smelling of dust and old insulation, but it was my only highway to the truth. When I reached the end, I eased the vent cover open with practiced silence.

I dropped onto the plush carpet of the East Wing. This was Julian’s territory. The air here was different—cooler, more expensive, and heavy with the scent of old wood and leather.

I ghosted down the hallway, the soles of my shoes barely making contact with the floor. I had to reach the Private Study. If Leo was alive, there had to be a record. It was impossible for there not to be.

But as I rounded the corner leading to the grand staircase, a sudden draft hit me. And with that draft came a scent that made my knees buckle.

THE SMELL OF THE ASHES

The chilled air of the East Wing vanished. My surroundings bled into sulfurous yellow and searing orange.

The Estate Fire. I remembered the heat. Not just warmth, but the sensation of my skin literally melting. The smell of smoke was everywhere—burning silk, charred mahogany, and the acrid tang of the accelerant used to make the fire spread.

I was screaming Leo’s name. I ran toward his room, but the floor between us suddenly gave way. Through the thick, black haze, I saw it: the door to Leo’s room, still bearing the “Keep Out” sign he’d made as a child, being swallowed by the roar.

“Leo!” I had screamed until my throat felt like it was filled with glass.

I saw the ceiling collapse. A massive boom shook the mansion to its foundations. The screams of the servants were drowned out by the thunder of the flames. Then, the rain started. Heavy, angry, relentless rain. But it didn’t save us. It only turned the smoke into a thick, gray shroud that wrapped around our deaths.

I remembered Julian’s hands on my shoulders, dragging me out while my brother’s room turned into a giant furnace. I thought he was saving me. I thought the rain was a miracle.

I leaned against the wall, my breathing jagged. The hallway’s air freshener tried to mask it, but for me, every corner of Ivy Heights smelled of ash.

I shook my head, forcing the memories back into the dark. Focus, Margo. Eris is the one here now.

I reached the Private Study. The door was locked with a biometric scanner. I pulled out a small bypass device—a gift from Bambi’s discarded tech scraps that I had secretly reconfigured.

Click.

The door slid open. The study was massive, filled with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and a heavy mahogany desk. I headed straight for the terminal. My fingers flew across the keyboard.

“Leo Valderama. Subject 044. Facility Beta,” I whispered as the files flickered on the screen.

My heart skipped a beat. He was there. A photo appeared—Leo, looking pale and hollow, his eyes staring blankly at the camera. He looked like a shell of the boy who used to laugh at my jokes.

“I found you,” I whispered, my eyes burning.

“Didn’t Madame V teach you that crying is just a waste of the body’s water?”

I froze. That voice.

I turned slowly. Julian was standing by the large window, his back to me, staring at the rain lashing against the glass. He was wearing a dark silk robe, a glass of amber liquid in his hand. I didn’t try to hide; it was too late for that. I kept my hand near the terminal, ready to wipe the history.

“You’re a very good thief, Eris,” he said, turning toward me with agonizing slowness. “But you forgot Rule Number Two: A Mistress has two ears and one mouth. You listen too much, and you go looking for things that don’t belong to you.”

“I was just curious about the history of the house, Sir,” I lied, my voice steady despite the adrenaline.

Julian walked toward me, his steps heavy. He stopped inches away. He smelled of rain—damp earth and cold air.

“It’s raining outside,” he murmured, his gray eyes searching mine. “The smell of rain always reminds me of the night I found you. It’s a clean scent, isn’t it? It washes everything away.”

I looked at him, and for a split second, I saw the boy who used to hold my hand in the garden. But that image was immediately incinerated by the memory of Leo’s room collapsing.

“The rain didn’t put out the fire, Julian,” I said, my voice like a serrated blade. “It only washed away the evidence of your mother’s crimes.”

The silence between us became as sharp as a knife. Julian’s eyes widened, his jaw tightening. He didn’t expect me to be this direct. He didn’t expect the ‘Jade’ to bite back so soon.

“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” he hissed, his hand reaching out to grip my chin, forcing me to look up. “The fire was an accident. The police report—”

“The police report was bought with your family’s blood money!” I snapped, dropping the Eris persona entirely. “The same way you bought my father’s silence in that morgue. The same way you’re holding Leo in a facility like an animal.”

Julian’s grip became painful. I could see the conflict in his eyes—the battle between the cold Conservator and the man who still had a shred of a soul left.

“If my mother finds you here, Eris… if she sees what’s on that screen… not even I can save you,” he whispered, his face so close I could feel the heat of his breath. “Why can’t you just follow the rules? Why can’t you just be the perfect mistress I wanted you to be?”

“Because the perfect mistress is a doll, Julian. And I was born to be a queen,” I retorted.

We stared at each other for a long, agonizing moment. I saw his gaze drop to my lips, then back to my eyes. The tension was no longer just about hate; it was about the dangerous, toxic attraction festering between us.

Suddenly, Julian pushed me away. He turned toward the terminal and, with a few quick keystrokes, wiped the logs of my search.

“Get out,” he said, his back to me again. “Go back to the West Wing. And Eris… next time you go hunting, make sure you’re ready to find something that might kill you.”

“I’ve already died once, Julian. Everything after that is just a bonus,” I replied.

I didn’t wait for a response. I slipped into the shadows. As I crawled back through the ducts, the smell of smoke was still there, but it was being drowned out by something else.

The scent of rain on Julian’s skin.

You think you’re protecting me, Julian? I thought as I reached the safety of the dorm. Or are you just protecting the monster you’ve become?

I lay down, my heart still racing. I had a location. Facility Beta. I knew where Leo was.

I closed my eyes, the rain against the window echoing Julian’s words. It washes everything away, he had said.

No, Julian. The rain only hides the blood for a while. But eventually, the ground gets saturated. And when it does, everything you buried will float to the surface.

I reached under my pillow and felt the charred piece of my mother’s robe.

“Hold on, Leo,” I whispered into the dark. “The rain is over. The fire is coming back. And this time, I’m the one bringing the match.”