Chapter 2 - Eleven Minutes
Adrian ripped the music box from its velvet pedestal. A lullaby spilled out, thin and sweet and completely wrong beneath the blaring alarm.
“Don't touch the bottom,” Lucian said.
“Interesting time to mention that.”
“It's not a bomb. It's a trigger.”
“For what?”
Lucian didn't answer. A white light flashed across the giant screens: a live feed of the ballroom, guests falling over one another toward the doors. Then words appeared.
PAY WHAT YOU OWE.
Mara reached the stage, breathless. “The kitchens are clear. There's a kid locked in the coat room.”
Adrian shoved the music box into Lucian's hands. “Get everyone out. I mean everyone.”
“Adrian—”
“Save the argument.”
He followed Mara down a corridor that smelled of roses and hot wiring. She pointed to a small wooden door. Through it came a faint pounding.
“Stand back,” he said.
He kicked once. The lock held. Twice. It split. A little girl in a white dress stumbled out clutching a stuffed rabbit.
“Where's my mom?” she asked.
“We'll find her,” Mara promised, lowering herself to the child's eye level. “What's your name?”
“Sophie.”
Mara went still. Adrian noticed. “You know her?”
“No.” The answer was too quick. “Come on.”
They rushed toward the side exit, where smoke was already curling under the door. Adrian touched the metal handle. Hot.
“Back,” he ordered.
A blast shook the hallway. Plaster dust burst from the ceiling. Mara covered Sophie's head with her own body. Adrian caught a falling brass fixture on his shoulder and swore through his teeth.
The floor held. The air didn't. An ugly chemical smell flooded the corridor.
“Kitchen stairwell,” Mara coughed. “This way.”
They reached a service entrance just as sprinklers began to hammer down. Outside, sirens multiplied in the dark. Sophie clung to Mara and wouldn't let go.
Lucian was waiting by an ambulance, spotless except for blood on his cuff.
“The ballroom didn't blow,” Adrian said. “Only the east wing.”
“It wasn't meant to kill the guests,” Lucian replied. “It was meant to open a vault.”
Mara stared at him. “What vault?”
Before Lucian could answer, Sophie tugged Mara's sleeve. “The lady who locked me in said to give you this.”
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She opened her tiny fist. Inside lay a brass key engraved with Mara's mother's name.
THE LAST DANCE AT BLACKTHORN HALL •
