Chapter 1 The First Secret
The next few days were frustrating.
Valentine and Mateo searched everywhere.
Lucian’s office.
The workshop.
Storage rooms.
Hidden compartments.
Even places Valentine knew had never mattered before.
Nothing.
No key.
No answers.
Just more questions.
Meanwhile…
Adrian and Jazlyn had started their own investigation.
Not because they wanted to.
Because they were tired of being left out.
“They’re hiding something.”
Adrian sat at a table covered in papers.
“We already know that.”
Jazlyn rolled her eyes.
“Thanks. Very helpful.”
Adrian ignored her.
Every time they thought they were close…
Nothing happened.
Every lead disappeared.
Every conversation stopped when they walked into a room.
Jazlyn leaned back.
“How are we supposed to find something when we don’t even know what we’re looking for?”
Adrian opened his mouth.
Then stopped.
Because she was right.
They weren’t investigating a secret.
They were investigating the fact that a secret existed.
And that was much harder.
Elsewhere…
Valentine slammed another drawer shut.
Nothing.
Again.
Mateo watched from across the room.
“Any luck?”
“No.”
Valentine folded her arms.
“No key.”
“No clue.”
“No helpful message.”
A pause.
“Just more of Lucian’s garbage.”
Mateo couldn’t really argue with that.
The room fell silent.
Then Valentine looked down at the object.
It had all the answers.
Or at least some of them.
And she was tired of waiting.
“You keep showing me pieces.”
Mateo looked up.
Valentine stared directly at the object.
“So show me where the key is.”
Nothing happened.
For a second.
Then the object began glowing.
Mateo immediately stood.
Valentine’s eyes widened.
The glow became brighter.
Then suddenly—
The object pulled.
Hard.
Valentine nearly lost her balance.
“What the—”
The object pulled again.
Like it wanted something.
Like it knew where it was going.
Mateo stared.
“Is it leading you somewhere?”
“I think so.”
The object pulled again.
This time Valentine followed.
And the object immediately stopped fighting her.
Like it was satisfied.
They moved through the mansion.
Past rooms they had already searched.
Past hallways Valentine knew by memory.
Past places she had walked through hundreds of times.
The deeper they went…
The stranger it felt.
Like the house was changing.
Or maybe revealing itself.
The object kept pulling.
Until suddenly…
It stopped.
Valentine froze.
Directly in front of a wall.
A normal wall.
Or at least it should have been.
Mateo frowned.
“This is it?”
Valentine stepped closer.
Something felt wrong.
She grew up here.
She knew every room.
Every hallway.
Every secret Lucian ever allowed her to know about.
But she had never seen this.
Not once.
Then she noticed the symbol.
Carved into the center of the wall.
Valentine immediately stepped back.
Because it wasn’t the symbol connected to the object.
It was different.
Older.
More complicated.
Almost like the object’s symbol had come from this one.
Mateo stared.
“What is that?”
Valentine slowly shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
And that scared her.
Because if she didn’t know…
Then Lucian never wanted her to.
The object suddenly glowed brighter.
The symbol reacted.
Both of them jumped.
Lines started appearing across the wall.
Like cracks.
Except they weren’t cracks.
They were glowing patterns.
A design.
Something hidden.
Something waking up.
A loud click echoed from inside the wall.
The entire mansion seemed to vibrate.
Then silence.
Valentine stared.
Her heart was pounding.
Mateo looked at her.
“Is that where the key is?”
Valentine didn’t answer immediately.
She looked at the symbol.
The glowing lines.
The hidden mechanism.
Then she slowly shook her head.
“No.”
A pause.
“I don’t think this is where he hid the key.”
Another click echoed from inside the wall.
Valentine’s expression changed.
Because suddenly she understood.
The key wasn’t the secret.
The key was connected to the secret.
And whatever Lucian was hiding…
Was behind this wall.
“This isn’t where he hid the key.”
Mateo looked at her.
“Then what is it?”
Valentine stared at the wall.
And whispered:
“It’s where he hid something.”
End of Book 2, Chapter 2
