Page 59 of House of Lilith

But I really need to get a move on. The dressmaker will be showing up any minute now to shower me with color samples that all look the same.

So I dart through another, emptier hallway, and I rush down the stairs and into the Entrance Hall, my eyes fixing on the Elevator.

But then they get drawn a little to the right. There, in the middle of a crowd, I see Professor Onas’ wife talking to the Pied Piper’s assistant. Talkingather, that is, at least judging by the way the mousy vampire girl keeps looking away.

My heart skips a beat. I don’t stop walking, but I do slow down a bit.

So as I push past them, I clearly hear the assistant say, “I’m sorry, Mrs Onas, but she’s just too busy.”

I subtly look over my shoulder and I see her walk away, leaving the woman standing there alone.

I stop midstep and I turn on my heel.

For a second, I hesitate. But the widow seems so miserable and I just can’t help it.

I start walking over to her, catching her eye without knowing whether she’ll recognize me.

She lights up as soon as she spots me. “Lady Romanov,” she calls and comes to meet me halfway.

It takes me by surprise, but not as much as the way she just takes my hand in hers. I have to fight the urge to take it back, but the look she throws me, it’s so warm, it makes the urge dissipate.

“Mrs Onas,” I start, but she cuts me off.

“I apologize, dear,” she says, “for not recognizing you back then…”

She doesn’t finish the sentence, both our minds rushing to her husband’s death.

And I have to muster all my determination, but I bite the bullet and I ask, “How have you been doing?”

She smiles, and the smile is still warm, but there’s bitterness in it. “You’re the first one who thought to ask. The others, well…”

I don’t say anything, but I do nudge her to go on.

She takes in a sharp breath, as if in an attempt to stay in control, and says, “They won’t give his stuff back.”

That makes me frown.

“I know,” she says with another weak smile. “I’ve only managed to get in touch with the Officer in charge of his case and the Pied Piper’s assistant and they both say the same thing.”

“What?”

“It’s still evidence.”

Bullshit, I think to myself. It’s just the endless bureaucracy and the heartlessness of the system. But I don’t say that. Especially as the future princess, I’m not allowed. “Have you filed any complaints?” I choose to ask.

Mrs Onas runs her hand over her face, letting out a small sigh. “I have. But I have no pull with the Authority and the Pied Piper won’t even see me.”

“That’s outrageous, Mrs Onas.”

“You think?” she asks. To my surprise, without a smidge of sarcasm in her voice. She shakes her head. “Sometimes, I think that it could just be me, you know, making a fuss over nothing.”

“They’re your late husband’s possessions,” I say through gritted teeth. “I honestly hope that people who’d say you’re making a fuss over nothing would be in the minority.”

She just looks at me for a second, her eyes filling with tears. “Thank you for saying that, dear,” she squeezes out, her voice all choked up. “Now that he’s gone, there’s not a lot of kindness left in this world for me.”

I have to fight not to look away, not to start crying right then and there. “The case,” I say in a voice as flat as I can make it. “How close are they to actually closing it?”

She blinks the tears away and lets out a bitter laugh. “I don’t think it’ll ever happen, Lady Romanov.”

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