Page 57 of Night's Fall
We’d entered, walked to the lifts, the lift doors had opened, we stood in them, and hearingAleksei’ssilken voice switch to steel was the only thing that clicked me back in.
“Precautions will be taken,Nata,” he bit. “It’sunnecessary for you to accompany us.Asyou know, this isn’t my first time here, andMistressLaurahas made comprehensive study of a variety of garments.Sheknows to take care.”
Mental note:Ineeded to askMadamGarwahabout that “MistressLaura” business.
The tall, cool, slender, attractive blonde human began, “Yourhighness, it would be?—”
“You’re dismissed,”Alekseicut her off with uncharacteristic (as far asIcould tell in our short acquaintance) impatience and authority. “I’llcomm you when we leave so you can engage the lockdown sequence.Therefore,I’llthank you now for staying late to allow us entry.”
To my surprise, her mouth tightened in open annoyance, she bobbed a curtsy, then, without even a glance at me, she turned on her sleek pump and swanned away.
Aleksei drew me into the lift.
“What was that about?”Iasked when the doors closed.
“My guess,TimotheeorErrolslept with her, making promises they didn’t keep, and now she’s compromised.Andsince she works in a sensitive area, she’ll need to be reassigned,” he clipped, his anger sharp, butIcouldn’t tell if he was angry at his brothers, having to reassign a female when that shouldn’t have to happen, or both.
Hmm.
Timothee orErrolgot their jollies, and it was the female who had to uproot her life because of it.
I was beginning really not to like his brothers, andIhadn’t even met them.
He ordered the lift. “Sublevelfive.”
Hang on.
Sublevel?
Five?
There were five sublevels to his joint?
I didn’t know there was even one.
“Erm…how big is this place?”Iasked.
He looked down to me, and the instant his gaze fell on my face, the irritability left behind by the blonde visibly melted away.
Really, he was justso lovely.
“There are two buildings devoted to theCatalogue.Threelevels in both above ground, where there are vaults but also administrative offices, extensive records and databases and conservation labs.Thisbuilding has six sublevels.Theother, which was an add-on when an overflow became necessary, has seven.Quitea bit of that is empty, but it was built proactively to be filled at a future date.”
I wishedIhad a better response thanIdid, but there really wasn’t more to say but, “Wow.”
He grinned, the lift doors opened, and, outside of the light coming from the lift, utter darkness greeted us.
“There’s twelve hundred years’ worth of history to preserve, some of it even older,” he remarked. “Andthat takes space.”Hethen ordered, “Lightson, seventy percent.Displaycases full illumination.”
Immediately, the vast room lit, and at the wonder that met my eyes,Igasped.
Loudly.
“Oh my…”Idrifted forward as if walking on air. “Ohmy…”Irepeated asIapproached the first large, glass display box. “Ohmygods,”Iwhispered, staring at what was in the box.
I feltAlekseicome up beside me, his hand lighting on the small of my back, but my eyes swept the long line of glass vaults, andIwas transfixed by the bounty that was before me.Andthat didn’t even take into consideration whatever treasures were hidden in the plethora of cabinets meticulously positioned to stand at attention, ready for perusal.
“My mother’s wedding gown, my father’s wedding suit,”Alekseiinformed me of what was on show before us.
