The Vanishing Stair (Truly Devious #2)(67)

“I remember my parents saying Nyla was trained as a botanist,” Catalina said.

“That explains a lot,” Slater said.

While the gardens around the cottage emitted an eerie, otherworldly light, the windows of the house were dark. If Nyla was inside, she was asleep like most of the other inhabitants of Fogg Lake.

“With her extensive knowledge of local herbs and her experience treating people with talent, she would have known exactly what to put in that tisane you and Olivia were given after you came out of the cave,” Slater said.

“She administered the first couple of doses to both of us personally,” Catalina said. “I think she tried to plant a strong hypnotic suggestion at the same time: You don’t want to go back there. That way lies madness. If you try to go back you will fall into the lake and drown. Olivia and I have often wondered why our dreams of that night were so similar.”

“The tisane must have had hypnotic properties,” Slater said.

“Nyla left packets of the herbs with our parents and instructed them to give us two doses a day for at least ten days. Afterward Olivia and I became increasingly confused by our memories. Eventually we tried to convince ourselves that maybe the adults were right. Maybe we had imagined everything that happened that night. But as we got older we compared our memories and our dreams. There were so many similarities that we decided we really had witnessed the murder. We were never entirely certain about the Devil’s Ballroom, though.”

“Did you ever try to convince your parents or the people of Fogg Lake that you were right about what happened that night?” Slater asked.

“No. There didn’t seem to be any point. They would have wanted some proof, and we had none. So Olivia and I kept our secrets. After we left town, neither of us came back here very often. We never went back into the caves.”

“That is probably what saved your lives,” Slater said. “Until now you were not a threat.”

“That’s just it,” Catalina said. “We haven’t ever been a threat, because no one here believed us.”

“What’s changed is that someone has figured out that you and Olivia found the old Fogg Lake lab that night.”

“How?”

“That is one of the questions Trevelyan is going to answer for us,” Slater said.

“What makes you think she’ll tell us anything?” Catalina asked. “It would mean admitting she was involved in a murder and a kidnapping.”

“I think she’ll talk to us,” Slater said.

“Because of your new talent?”

“If that doesn’t work, there’s always the staff at Halcyon Manor.”

Catalina realized she was gritting her teeth. “And you and your uncles wonder why the citizens of our fair town don’t invite the Foundation authorities to the annual Fogg Lake Days celebration.”

“I think Uncle Victor would settle for a little cooperation from time to time, especially when murder is involved,” Slater said.

“I tried the cooperation thing six months ago. It didn’t go well for me.”

“We can talk about that later. At the moment we’ve got other priorities.”

They went up the front steps of the cottage. Slater rapped sharply on the door.

There was no response. Slater knocked again.

A deep silence echoed inside the cottage. Slater tried the door-knob. It turned easily in his hand.

“She didn’t lock her door,” Slater said. “Guess she didn’t pay attention to the Oracle tonight.”

Flattening his back against the wall, Slater pushed open the door. Catalina was braced for gunfire or some other unpleasant surprise, but there was only silence. She heightened her senses and knew that Slater had done the same. He risked a quick glance inside. If there was someone concealed in the shadows inside the cottage, the individual’s aura would be visible.

“I don’t see anyone,” he said. “Stay here. I’ll take a look around inside.”

“I’m coming with you. Nyla is probably asleep. The last thing you want to do is walk into her bedroom and scare her. She may be innocent. We still don’t have any proof that she’s the one behind this.”

Slater hesitated. “All right. But no more high-risk moves like the one you made at Royston’s place.”

“It worked, didn’t it?”

“Don’t remind me.”

Slater reached around the corner and groped for and found a switch. A lamp came on in the small living room and kitchen area. No one jumped out of a closet with a gun. No one sprayed them with toxic fog. The silence just got deeper.

“She’s gone,” Catalina said. “You can feel the emptiness.”

“We need to be sure.”

They went down the short hall, pausing to check the tiny bathroom. In the bedroom Slater hit another switch. This time an overhead fixture came on, revealing a neatly made-up bed.

“There’s one other place we can check,” Catalina said. “Nyla has an old-fashioned stillroom off the kitchen. It’s where she concocts her herbal products.”

They went back down the hall and through the small kitchen and opened the door. What had once been the back porch of the cottage had been closed in with glass to create a quaint little stillroom. The scents of lavender, roses and peppermint drifted in the atmosphere. The room shivered with a gentle paranormal vibe. Bundles of dried herbs dangled upside down from the low roof. Empty jars sat on a shelf, waiting to be filled with creams and lotions.