Page 41 of Daddy's Oath
Iris nodded. “Oh yeah. I was only around you two for a few seconds. But I saw the way he looked at you. And your response was… well, let’s just say, yeah, it’s obvious.”
The answer made Lana feel a little better. Maybe it wasn’t all in her head. If Iris saw it, too, then there was a chance Ace really was into her.
Right now, she had other things on her mind, though.
“I’m excited to play with you,” Lana said. “But I kind of want to hear what the guys are talking about. I know eavesdropping would be naughty. And you might think less of me. But?—”
“I freaking love being naughty!” Iris said.
“Really?”
The other Little bobbed her head gleefully. “It’s a long story. But before I met Jack life was kind of… tough. Anyway, now that I have a Daddy and friends, I’m sort of living as my true, authentic self. And as it turns out, I kind of get into trouble. Like a lot.”
This gave Lana hope, too. It sounded as if it had been difficult for Iris to fully embrace Little Space, just like it was for her. But eventually, she pushed through it.
Maybe Lana would, too.
“Want to know something cool?” Iris asked.
“Yeah!”
She leaned in, as if someone might be listening. In a quiet tone, she explained, “There’s a secret passage that leads down to the den.”
Lana gasped. “Seriously?”
“Uh-huh. When this place was built, during Prohibition, the movie stars who lived here with sneak booze in and stuff. Like up here, to the ballroom. And they had escape routes in case the cops raided them.” She chuckled. “Kind of ironic now that there’s a bunch of former cops living here. Anyway, if you want to listen in on your Daddy’s conversation, I can get you down to the den without anyone knowing.”
Lana was about to agree to the mischief when she realized exactly what Iris had said. “He’s not my Daddy. At least, I don’t think he is. I mean, he called himself Daddy earlier. And I called him that. But we just met and it’s…” She groaned. “Complicated.”
Iris waved it off. “He’s your Daddy. You’ll make it official, soon. Now, come on. Let’s get down there before we miss the good stuff! I bet they’re talking about something really juicy.”
With that, the Littles joined hands and happily skipped deeper into the giant room with Benson dutifully following alongside them.
“If you think this place is cool now, wait until you see this,” Iris said as they stopped in front of a door. “The coat closet.” She opened it to reveal a seemingly ordinary, boxy space with a fine layer of dust covering the two shelves and bar that ran across the top.
Once again, Lana could imagine all the old-fashioned jackets and things hanging in there while people danced and drank up there. It was neat imagery, but she didn’t understand why Iris wanted to show her a musty old closet.
Until…
Iris stepped in and ran her hand beneath one of the shelves. A moment later, Lana heard a click.
Then the right edge of the back wall moved slowly toward them.
“Is that a… secret passage?” Lana nearly yelled.
Iris took hold of the wall and swung it toward them, straining a bit under its weight. The hinges strained, too, squeaking loudly. “Sure is. It kind of sticks sometimes. It’s like a hundred years old.” She flipped a switch that was just inside the door. Old sconces on the wall buzzed and then hummed with low light. It looked like something from one of those old black-and-white horror movies she loved to watch, Lana thought.
“Come on,” Iris encouraged.
Lana couldn’t believe what was happening. She’d seen sets like this built in at the studios for treasure-hunting movies and things like that. But this was real!
She wondered who all had made use of the mysterious space. Had Theda Bara herself been on those creaky old stairs?
There were several turns, and it was a tight fit in places with the two of them and Benson having to walk single file, but they didn’t have any trouble getting to the bottom.
Once it dead-ended at another wall, Iris whispered, “Shh. We have to do this part carefully.” Her index finger pressed a small, barely visible button and the panel before them popped outward. Iris carefully nudged it open a bit more, but only a crack, stopping before it opened too far to reveal them.
While she couldn’t really see anything, Lana could hear just fine.
