is more rumors."
"Hannah!" he called. "My baby turtledove!"
I snorted but luckily Nikolai was banging on the door loudly enough to cover the noise. He seemed to be really getting into it, actually. A bit too much, even.
"You know I can't live without you!" he wailed, clutching at the doorframe. "Don't leave me like this!"
His dramatics were only egging on the crowd. This was going to be all over the internet within minutes.
Then it started.
" You are my sunshine ," Nikolai sang. " My only sunshine ."
The crowd immediately began to back off. Wow, with all of the Volkov fortune, Nikolai could not buy a tune. Within seconds, the hallway was clear. I envied them their ability to run away, clutching at their ears.
"Works every time!" Nikolai said, chuckling as he swiped the keycard and opened the door. "Woah, people actually pay money to stay in these rooms? That's criminal!"
"Don't be a jerk and help me find my stuff," I told him, then directed him to my side of the room, telling him which things I needed and which weren't important. I got him to log into my desktop computer and send a message to my brothers to say I was sick and couldn't talk for a few days.
"You know, you could hire someone to be your errand boy," he said as he typed. "I am actually far too busy and important for this kind of thing."
"Oh, put a sock in it, loser, and watch your spelling. What's the point of your fancy education if you can't tell 'then' from 'than'?"
"My charms are beyond spelling and grammar," he said, hitting send.
"There are no charms beyond spelling and grammar," I told him. "Come on, we should go before she gets back."
Just as I said it, the door began to open.
"Quick, hide!" I hissed.
Nikolai did this elaborate drop and roll under the bed that nearly knocked me unconscious but managed to hide us in time. I didn't know if anything would happen to him if he was discovered inside our room, but there would definitely be questions asked, and we didn't have any good answers for them.
Someone walked into the room, slamming the door shut behind them. I could tell just from the footfalls that it wasn't Hannah, she walked very lightly and this person was a clomper.
"Yeah, the room's empty," the person said. They sounded as if they were on the phone, but that wasn't possible at Amaris, there was no cell signal. But that wasn't even the strangest thing. It was a male voice, a deep and unpleasant voice and one I recognized.
Astor.
"There's no way she made it all the way back here. I told you, there's no way she got out of the bamboo forest alive. I put the whammy on her good."
I felt cold all over and a little bit like I was going to vomit.
"Yeah, yeah, I'll look, but it's pointless… Fine, look I'll meet you tomorrow night like we arranged and we can talk about it then… Yeah, at 7PM at the pool, I won't forget."
There was some shuffling, and the sound of Astor moving through the room. Nikolai shuffled forward so that we could see what Astor was doing. He went over to Hannah's side of the room and started going through her drawers. He seemed way too interested in her underwear drawer. Actually, that was the only thing he seemed interested in. It had sounded like he was there to look for me, maybe to finish me off for good, but unless I was hiding in the crotch of Hannah's panties, he wasn't going to find me. The big creeper.
I had no idea what Nikolai was thinking, or how we would get out of this. I knew that if it came down to it, Astor was no match for Nikolai, but I really wanted to avoid any sort of physical altercation.
"We have to get out of here," I said, so quietly it was barely a breath. I wasn't sure Nikolai would hear, I could hardly hear myself, but I had to rely on his super senses.
He gave a little twitch of his head that was probably supposed to signify something, but I had no idea if it was agreement or not. Before I could clarify, he moved. He was faster than the wind and just as unseen, grabbing my stuff
"Hannah!" he called. "My baby turtledove!"
I snorted but luckily Nikolai was banging on the door loudly enough to cover the noise. He seemed to be really getting into it, actually. A bit too much, even.
"You know I can't live without you!" he wailed, clutching at the doorframe. "Don't leave me like this!"
His dramatics were only egging on the crowd. This was going to be all over the internet within minutes.
Then it started.
" You are my sunshine ," Nikolai sang. " My only sunshine ."
The crowd immediately began to back off. Wow, with all of the Volkov fortune, Nikolai could not buy a tune. Within seconds, the hallway was clear. I envied them their ability to run away, clutching at their ears.
"Works every time!" Nikolai said, chuckling as he swiped the keycard and opened the door. "Woah, people actually pay money to stay in these rooms? That's criminal!"
"Don't be a jerk and help me find my stuff," I told him, then directed him to my side of the room, telling him which things I needed and which weren't important. I got him to log into my desktop computer and send a message to my brothers to say I was sick and couldn't talk for a few days.
"You know, you could hire someone to be your errand boy," he said as he typed. "I am actually far too busy and important for this kind of thing."
"Oh, put a sock in it, loser, and watch your spelling. What's the point of your fancy education if you can't tell 'then' from 'than'?"
"My charms are beyond spelling and grammar," he said, hitting send.
"There are no charms beyond spelling and grammar," I told him. "Come on, we should go before she gets back."
Just as I said it, the door began to open.
"Quick, hide!" I hissed.
Nikolai did this elaborate drop and roll under the bed that nearly knocked me unconscious but managed to hide us in time. I didn't know if anything would happen to him if he was discovered inside our room, but there would definitely be questions asked, and we didn't have any good answers for them.
Someone walked into the room, slamming the door shut behind them. I could tell just from the footfalls that it wasn't Hannah, she walked very lightly and this person was a clomper.
"Yeah, the room's empty," the person said. They sounded as if they were on the phone, but that wasn't possible at Amaris, there was no cell signal. But that wasn't even the strangest thing. It was a male voice, a deep and unpleasant voice and one I recognized.
Astor.
"There's no way she made it all the way back here. I told you, there's no way she got out of the bamboo forest alive. I put the whammy on her good."
I felt cold all over and a little bit like I was going to vomit.
"Yeah, yeah, I'll look, but it's pointless… Fine, look I'll meet you tomorrow night like we arranged and we can talk about it then… Yeah, at 7PM at the pool, I won't forget."
There was some shuffling, and the sound of Astor moving through the room. Nikolai shuffled forward so that we could see what Astor was doing. He went over to Hannah's side of the room and started going through her drawers. He seemed way too interested in her underwear drawer. Actually, that was the only thing he seemed interested in. It had sounded like he was there to look for me, maybe to finish me off for good, but unless I was hiding in the crotch of Hannah's panties, he wasn't going to find me. The big creeper.
I had no idea what Nikolai was thinking, or how we would get out of this. I knew that if it came down to it, Astor was no match for Nikolai, but I really wanted to avoid any sort of physical altercation.
"We have to get out of here," I said, so quietly it was barely a breath. I wasn't sure Nikolai would hear, I could hardly hear myself, but I had to rely on his super senses.
He gave a little twitch of his head that was probably supposed to signify something, but I had no idea if it was agreement or not. Before I could clarify, he moved. He was faster than the wind and just as unseen, grabbing my stuff
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