Luthier's Apprentice, The (17 page)

“Something terrible? What? What do you want me to do?”

At that moment Niccolò entered with a portable metal wardrobe suspended on wheels. From the rack hung luxurious costumes of every style, color and texture—velvet, lace, silk, taffeta, sequins. At the bottom was a box filled with masks and wigs.

“What’s this?” Niccolò asked when he saw Annika. “Are they giving out free tickets to Purple Kingdom?”

Lili pursed her lips. “Really, Niccolò, you never stop amazing me with your twisted sense of humor. Don’t be afraid, Annika. He’s one of the good guys now. At least, that’s what I’m hoping.”

Niccolò sighed. He seemed at loss for words, but his charismatic dark eyes locked onto Lili’s.

Elizabeth cleared her throat.

“Let’s see those costumes, Niccolò Paganini,” Lili commanded.

Niccolò wheeled the wardrobe to the middle of the chamber.

“Paganini? Niccolò Paganini?” Annika asked, gawking.

“The one and only,” he said.

“Is he the real thing?” Annika asked Elizabeth.

“I’m afraid so, Annika.”

“Then… then Corey was right…” Her voice broke. “What
is
this place, Mrs. Braun? What’s going to happen tonight?”

“It’s a long story, child,” Lili said.

“I need to know,” Annika said.

“You certainly do,” Lili said. “But first things first.” She studied the costumes. “Elizabeth and I just had a wicked idea, Niccolò. I think you’re going to love it.”

H
IDDEN BEHIND A PILLAR WITH BLACKIE
tightly tucked in his arms, Donatelli watched as several soldiers emerged with the prisoners from one of the passages. Among them, he recognized Monsieur Dupriez. He knew they were the latest missing violinists. They looked pale and haggard, their shirts and jackets dishevelled. Like zombies, they had a lost look in their eyes. Maybe they had been given a special drug to remain docile. Maybe a potion had been put in their meal. The poor devils… chances are they didn’t suspect the miserable fate that awaited them. And what had their crime been? They had become violinists... and they had been born male.

Donatelli had known all along about Sonia Ivanov and her ways. How could he not? He himself had been her
schiavo
, slave, all these years.

He studied the movement of the soldiers and wondered how many of them there were. He had seen only two outside, and now these three.

The soldiers and the doomed violinists disappeared into another passage. He guessed they were being taken to the grand hall.

Leaning against the pillar, Donatelli hesitated and wondered what to do next. Having Blackie in his arms didn’t help. But Emma loved this rabbit, and he didn’t want to see the grief in her eyes if something happened to him.

His instincts told him if Blackie was here Emma was here also, that somehow she had found a way to enter the portal. She’d been asking a lot of questions lately. She was smart. He’d known it would be only a matter of time before she found her way into it. And could he blame her? No. If it’d been him, he would have done the same. He’d been just like Emma at that age. He understood her more than she could ever imagine. And loved her just as much. He would give his life for her in a second.

“Think, think,” he muttered to himself. Chances were Elizabeth was still here with Lili. His dying Lili… He closed his eyes for a moment. He had not seen her in many years. Sonia had prohibited him from doing so. But he should have disobeyed. He had betrayed his own daughter. Regret and bitterness overwhelmed him.

What if… what if he saw her now? Surely, since Lili was dying, Sonia wouldn’t object. And if she did, so what? He was so tired, he didn’t care anymore.

He remembered where Lili’s chamber was. He also had to find a safe place to put the rabbit. That wild beast of a dog was roaming free. Golden retrievers were normally affectionate and docile, but this dog was just the opposite. He wouldn’t be surprised to find the animal had been transformed by Sonia. To make a monster out of a golden retriever was just like her. Her sense of humor was like that. Morbid and deranged.

When he’d lunged for Blackie in the woods, the dog had been prepared to pounce on him, but then, strangely, the pair of red-eyed wolves had stepped in the way and shielded him from the dog’s attack. There was no other way to describe what had happened. He still didn’t understand it. He knew the wolves tolerated his presence in the woods, but now he realized their behavior went beyond mere tolerance. Had they grown fond of him? Maybe they could sense his hate for Sonia. Maybe they hated her just as much as he did. The wolves had scared the beastly dog away, and he had thanked them with a silent whisper and a respectful nod of the head.

But he had left the wood in the forest. He had to go back and get it. Without this wood he wouldn’t be able to make his haunted violins.

Would he have to continue making such instruments until his very last breath? Not if he could help it, but the truth was, as things stood, there was nothing he could do about it.

After he made sure the coast was clear, he plodded toward Lili’s chamber.

D
O YOU HEAR FOOTSTEPS?” EMMA ASKED.

Corey stared at the arched doorway. “Sounds like several people.”

The footsteps and moans grew louder. Finally, Corey and Emma saw the soldiers enter with the violinists.

“Monsieur Dupriez!” Emma called.

But Dupriez and the other violinists were in a daze. Their movements were like those of revived corpses.

“What’s wrong with him?” Emma asked. “He doesn’t look well.”

“None of them look well. Look at the way they’re walking. Look at their eyes. They must be under the influence of a drug.”

“Or a spell.”

The soldiers chained the prisoners to the other side of the chamber, shackling their wrists and ankles.

“It looks like the ceremony will start soon,” Corey said. “Now we have to wait for our gracious hostess.” He spat the word hostess.

“What about Paganini?” Emma whispered. “Do you think he changed his mind about helping us?”

“I wouldn’t put my hopes on a man who sold his soul to the devil.”

“You never know. People change.”

“You’re such an idealist,” he said. The way he said the word idealist sounded like an insult. But he seemed to regret it because his face quickly softened. “Emma…”

“Yes?”

“Whatever happens, I want you to know I’m very glad to have met you.”

She felt a lump in her throat. “Corey….”

Corey stretched out his arm and tried to reach her hand. Emma tried to touch his hand as well, but they were too far apart.

“It’s useless,” Emma said, giving up.

The soldiers guarding the violinists suddenly left the room.

“I wonder what’s going on,” Corey said. “It’s as if they were all ordered to leave at the same time.”

“Maybe Sonia controls them with her mind from wherever she is.”

“That’s a scary thought.”

S
ONIA IVANOV WAS PREPARING FOR THE
ceremony in her chamber.

Outside her door, two soldiers kept guard. Their appearance was like all her possessions. Everything in her chamber had a violin motif: the walls, bed covers, tables, chairs, paintings. It was a violinist’s paradise—or hell, depending on how one looked at it.

Sonia doused herself in perfume. Her long blonde hair was intertwined with purple extensions and her face covered with softly shimmering, dewy white powder. Her arched brows, set high above her eyes, were painted black. She had chosen a magnificent ball gown a la Marie Antoinette studded with tiny pearls and diamonds along with crystal, Cinderella-style slippers. Everything purple, of course. Her nails, long and sharp like those of a fairy-tale witch, shone with shimmering purple polish. She could still play the violin with long nails—and without the help of magic. She was a genius! The greatest violinist who had ever lived! Her world was purple. And she loved it.

Purple had a special meaning for her. She had been wearing her favorite purple gown on that wretched night when the whole world had mocked her…

Slowly turning this way and that, Sonia studied her reflection in the gilded-framed oval mirror.

If everything went well tonight, it would guarantee her fifty years of power and life. So much, for so little. Why, if she did not know any better, she would say the devil was being generous! The thought made her chuckle.

On her bed lay a violin case. She opened it and extracted a bow and an old, exquisite violin. Under the chandelier, the varnish glowed flawlessly. It was a priceless Guarnerius del Gesu. She had stolen it from a rich collector as soon as she had acquired her powers, just as she had stolen many priceless violins over the years, Stradivarius, Amati...all securely locked away in a secret place.

While gazing at herself in the mirror, she played a—well, why not—a Paganini piece, one of his most difficult: the 2nd
Caprice
. She played with the skill and virtuosity of a demon. Yet it looked effortless. She was a master at
sprezzatura
—the skill of doing something difficult by making it look easy.

When she was finished, she held the violin under her arm and sauntered out of the room.

Let the party begin.

S
OMEONE’S COMING,” EMMA WHISPERED.

Corey’s attention turned to the doorway.

Sonia Ivanov swept into the room with a violin under her arm. “Well, I see all my children are here. Perfect.”

“So it’s a costume party now?” Corey said to Emma.

Sonia placed her violin and bow on a table by the pedestal.

“Where is Niccolò?” Sonia asked. “Late as usual. I should not be surprised.” Then she approached Emma and Corey. “I have to say, you do not look very well.”

Emma and Corey scowled.

“My, my, what a temper,” she said. “Nobody has offered you a bite or a drink? How dreadful. Do not worry. You will soon forget about petty things like eating and drinking when you see the surprise I have prepared for you.” She reached to touch Emma’s face, but Emma jerked her head away.

“You can sulk all you want, but you cannot deny your destiny,” Sonia said. “Soon you shall take your place as the next apprentice, and you will become my slave for as long as you live.”

“You witch,” Corey hissed.

“I prefer the term sorceress. You are such a fool to go against me—why, I was beginning to take a liking to you, even though you have your father’s eyes and dimpled chin.”

“You murderer.”

“He had it coming,” Sonia replied. “He thought he could take my daughter away from me. He should have known better.”

“Then you admit you killed him?”

“It was not difficult to give him a little something to daze him before his usual Sunday flight. Playing with toy airplanes!” she scoffed. “What a foolish man.”

“You killed my father,” Corey said, “but it didn’t bring your daughter back. So you failed. Your power won’t last forever, and one day you’ll burn in hell.”

A murmur of voices came from the doorway. A moment later three figures walked into the room.

Niccolò, as the Phantom of the Opera, carried in his arms what could only be described as a monk with a bird mask. Standing next to him was a woman dressed like Joan of Arc—a woman Emma instantly recognized.

“Mom!” Emma breathed.

“Emma!” Elizabeth rushed to her daughter’s side.

Sonia smirked as Elizabeth embraced Emma and covered her with kisses and murmurs of endearment.

“Are you okay?” Elizabeth whispered. “Everything will be all right. I promise.”

She turned to Corey. “Are you all right?”

Corey nodded.

“Touching, very touching,” Sonia mocked.

Elizabeth turned to face her. “You should know better than to treat children in this manner. Release them!”

“So… it is
you
who is in charge now?” Sonia taunted. “I like your Joan of Arc costume. Very becoming. The martyr role suits you.”

Niccolò took a step forward with the bird-face monk in his arms. Now that they were closer, Emma saw the monk wore the mask of a hawk. “She’s very weak. She can’t walk. She can’t even talk. Where do you want me to put her?”

“Poor Lili,” Sonia said with mock compassion. “Sorry to see that you are feeling indisposed, but I promise you that you will enjoy the entertainment very much. Put her in the chair by the throne, Niccolò.”

“So that’s Aunt Lili...” Emma whispered to Corey. “I wish I could see her face.”

Niccolò obeyed and carefully placed her on the chair. He stood by her side.

“Elizabeth, sit on the other chair by my throne,” Sonia said. It was not a request.

Emma watched as her mom slowly crossed the grand hall and did as Sonia had ordered.

At that moment, a commotion was heard outside. A dog growled and barked. Soon, two soldiers marched inside holding a ferocious-looking dog.