The rain just kept falling. It did not stop, even after he was gone. The rain followed Elara, but not outside. It was inside her. It was like something had come into her house with her. When Elara walked into the hallway, everything seemed normal again. The light was warm. The music was soft. People were. It sounded real.
It was all fake. It was like a play where the actors forgot what to say. They kept smiling anyway. Elara's heart was beating fast. It did not match the calm feeling of the room. Elara might remember something. The words she heard were stuck in her mind. They felt colder than the rain.
"Lady Elara ", a servant said, bowing their head. "Your mother is looking for you."
"I know," she said. She didn't stop walking. Elara knew her mother would be looking for her.
The private lounge was closed, and only the Montclairs could go in. No one else could see what was really going on. Her mother was standing by the window. She looked perfect. Her father was sitting with a glass in his hand. Julian was leaning against the wall, watching everyone. He looked worried. That was not like him.
The door closed with a click.
"You left ", her mother said, looking at her reflection in the window.
"I needed some air ", Elara said.
"In the middle of your engagement party?" her mother asked.
Elara looked at her mother's reflection. "I did not know I was being watched ", she said.
Her mother turned around. She was smiling. Her smile was sharp. "You are not important enough to be watched, Elara ", she said. "You are valuable, so we need to take care of you."
The room was quiet for a moment. Julian stood up against the wall.
"I am doing what you told me to do ", Elara said, trying to sound calm.
"But you still look unhappy ", her mother said, looking at her. "Fix that."
"You saw him ", her father said suddenly. It was not a question. The room felt different.
"He should not be here ", her mother said, angry.
"But he is here ", Elara said. Her mother looked at her again. "Do not try to be smart with me tonight ", she said.
"I am just looking at what's happening ", Elara said.
Her father put his glass down slowly. He stood up. Walked to Elara. He was very close to her. It felt scary. "It is good to observe things when you know what you are looking at ", he said. "It is dangerous when you do not know what you are looking at." He looked at the diamond ring on Elara's finger in her eyes. "When something is built carefully, you do not let one thing mess it up." He looked at the diamond ring again. "If that one thing forgets what it is, for it gets removed."
"I understand," she added. This time, it sounded different. Not submission, but calculation.
"Good ", her mother said. "Then we are done."
The morning sun came up. It did not make Elara warm. It made things clear to her. Elara woke up. She still felt cold. She could taste the ash in her mouth. She could not stop thinking about one person, Alaric. The name Alaric was stuck in her head. She remembered what it was like when Alaric looked at her. It felt like the walls of her bedroom were not strong enough she closed her eyes.
In a glass-walled office that looked out over the city as it woke up Alaric Virement did not look like a man who had been erased from existence. He looked like the man who was in control of erasing things. The room was really cold. The shadows in the corners seemed to be moving around like they were alive.
He stood behind a desk made of steel staring at a digital map of the city's financial district on a screen. Kael Darven, the person he trusted the most stood beside him quiet and still.
"The alliance between Virement and Montclair is not about two companies joining together " Kael said, his voice very low. "It is like a wall that they are building to keep people out. If they finish merging their companies it will be impossible to get inside their logistics empire. They are building a foundation but it is based on lies."
Alaric Virement did not turn around. His dark blue eyes were fixed on a light that was flickering on the screen. A problem with the system that he had created a long time ago. "Let them build their wall " Alaric Virement said, his voice calm and smooth but dangerous. "A big wall is a bigger target. Sebastian thinks he can control everything. He has forgotten that Alaric Virement does not play by the rules. Alaric Virement is the one who makes the rules."
He reached out his hand. His fingers hovered over the digital map. The air around his hand seemed to be moving. The screen was stuttering, like time itself was having trouble keeping up with Alaric Virement. "They think they have removed Alaric Virement from the picture " Alaric Virement said. ". You cannot remove a shadow. You can only move the light that is shining on it."
Kael Darven asked, "What about the girl, Elara?"
Alaric Virements hand stopped moving. The room suddenly felt hotter. The glass windows creaked. "Elara is the real thing in that whole family " Alaric Virement said. "She is like a spark in a room of gasoline just waiting to ignite." He turned around. His face was calm but also very intimidating. "Make sure Silas, the information broker has all the documents ready. Alaric Virement wants Sebastian to feel like the ground is falling apart beneath him before he even realizes that Alaric Virement is back, in the game."
Back at the cafe, Elara is having breakfast with her fiancé. She was sitting across from Sebastian in the breakfast room. To anyone, it was a perfect picture of a happy home.
Sebastian said to Elara, "You are very quiet today." His voice was very smooth. He was not eating. He was watching Elara. "Are you still thinking about the ghost from night?" he asked.
Elara did not move. She put her spoon down. It made a loud noise. "I am thinking about the girl " Elara said to Sebastian. "The girl your secretary talked about. The girl who will not leave."
The room became very cold. Sebastian did not change his face. He looked at Elara with a lot of curiosity. "A businessman always has problems " Sebastian said. "You are very smart, Elara. You know the difference between a problem and a big secret."
Elara asked, "What about Alaric?" Her voice was calm and strong. "Is he a problem too? Or is he the reason your father looks so scared?"
Sebastian smiled. It was an scary smile. He moved closer to Elara. His shadow covered her plate. "Alaric is a mistake " Sebastian said. "He is a mistake that was supposed to stay hidden in Russia. He is a problem, in a plan."
Sebastian put his hand near Elara's waist. His fingers were moving. "It is not good to watch people " Sebastian said. "You are a girl, Elara. Do not look for things that you are not supposed to know. I do not want you to get hurt."
Sebastian stood up. He was threatening Elara. "I have meetings " he said. "Stay in your big house. The city is not safe today."
Elara watched Sebastian leave. She was thinking. When Sebastian closed the door Elara followed him. She went to the car. She heard Sebastian's voice. He was talking on the phone. He was very angry.
Sebastian said, "I do not care if she is crazy. The guest house is to keep her quiet. If she talks again make sure she never talks again. I do not care what it costs. Just make sure Elara never sees her."
Elara was surprised. Who is the girl? Sebastian was hiding a secret. He was hiding a person. Elara put her hand in her pocket. She felt the card that Alaric gave her.
The address Alaric had given her wasn't an office building; it was a big ugly building made of glass and black stone on the edge of the shipyard. This was a place where the city was really alive with machines and grease. Elara didn't hesitate. She went through the revolving doors. Her business student brain quickly thought about how much the security guards standing like statues in the lobby were worth.
She took the elevator to the top floor. When the doors opened she walked into an office that looked like a high-tech war room than a place of business. It was freezing. The air smelled of ozone and expensive coffee.
Alaric was sitting behind his steel desk. He was looking at a tablet. Didn't even glance up.
"You're thirty miles outside where you're supposed to be Elara " he said. His voice was low. Seemed to vibrate through the floor. "Sebastian is currently freaking out in a boardroom. He's wondering why his prize has gone missing. Risking your life to come that's not very smart for someone like you."
Elara walked toward him. Her heels clicked on the floor. She leaned over his desk her face inches from his. "I'm a business major, Alaric. I know when someone is undervaluing something.. Right now the Montclair-Virement merger is a bad deal."
Alaric finally looked up. His dark blue eyes looked at her throat before settling on her face. A slow dangerous smile pulled at his lips. "You're sharp.. Shouldn't you be at a library right now? Studying supply chain management and worrying about your grades?"
Elara laughed. It was a jagged sound. "I think we both know I don't fit in with study groups and nice parties. Besides why study a market when I'm the one being sold on it?"
" point " Alaric murmured. He stood up. His big frame loomed over her. The temperature in the room spiked. He stepped around the desk. He invaded her space until she was backed against the cold steel. ". Walking into my office is a risk your father wouldn't take. You're playing a game you don't know the rules to Little Spark."
"Then teach me ", she challenged. Her pulse was thundering.
Alaric did not move. He was standing close to Elara that she could smell the cold scent of his cologne, which was like rain and old metal and it filled her lungs. He reached out. His thumb touched the sharp line of Elaras jaw and his touch was surprisingly warm against Elaras chilled skin.
"Teach you?" Alaric. His voice was very low. "The lessons I teach usually cost people everything they have."
Elara did not flinch. "I have already been sold to a man who keeps women locked in guest houses Alaric " Elara said. "I am already bankrupt. Tell me about the girl, Alaric. Tell me why my father looks like he has seen a ghost every time Alarics name is mentioned."
Alarics hand. He turned back to the big windows looking out over the shipping containers and the gray harbor.
"Sebastian is a man who collects things Alaric said, with his back to Elara. "The girl in the guest house is something he tried before something that did not work out. As for Elaras father he did not just erase Alaric from the company records. He tried to erase Alaric from the earth. He thinks that when people are dead they do not come back to get what they are owed."
Elara pressed Alaric for information stepping closer to Alaric. "They say you were in Russia, Alaric. They say you were hurt."
Alaric turned his head a little. The light showed the hard scarred edge of Alarics brow. "Russia was a time when I had to change Alaric said. "I learned that when you care about people it can hurt you and that power is the thing that always keeps its value."
Is that all this is to Alaric Elara asked, her voice shaking with anger and excitement. "Is this about taking over Alaric? Am I something on your list Alaric?"
Alaric fully turned to Elara now and his face did not show any feelings Alarics eyes were looking at the pulse in Elaras neck. Alaric took one step closer to Elara and Alaric was looming over Elara like a shape.
"Feeling things is expensive Elara " Alaric said quietly. "I do not pay for it " Alaric said. Alaric leaned down. Alarics lips touched Elaras ear making Elara shiver and it was not because of the cold air in the office. ". Working with you Elara, a Montclair who knows the secrets and is brave enough to talk about them?"
Alaric pulled back and Alaric's eyes locked onto Elara's eyes with a scary hunting intensity.
That Alaric said, "is the thing I have seen in ten years Alaric said. "You want to know the rules, Elara? Rule one: Do not ask about the past, Alaric said. "It is over. Rule two: Think about the money Alaric said. "We are not just stopping a merger, Little Spark Alaric said. "We are going to take your family's empire until there is nothing left but the ground it was built on."
Elara looked at Alaric, the man who was more like a shadow than a person and Elara realised that Elara was not just joining a fight. Elara was making a deal with a ghost.
"Then let's start looking at the books ", Elara whispered.
Alaric's smile was sharp. Alaric reached into Alaric's desk. Threw a heavy old iron key onto the steel surface.
"Then start with the guest house Alaric said. "But be careful Elara Alaric said. "Some secrets are not kept because they are valuable Alaric said. "They are kept because they can hurt people."