“A false bottom?”
“Or back.” She couldn’t budge the velvet backing. “There has to be a trigger.”
Ben searched the rack for anything that looked out of place and found a single bracket where the velvet seams ran around the base of the bracket instead of being smooth. The base was worn in a way that the other brackets weren’t. He gently pushed in and was rewarded when the bracket sank into the wall and triggered a soft click.
The front of the cabinet swung open to reveal a simple wooden door, which was also locked, but this time it was a combination.
“Let me.” Tenzin nudged Ben to the side and put her ear next to the lock. While humans needed extra equipment to hear the delicate clicks of an old-fashioned combination lock, vampire ears were better. Within minutes, Tenzin had the lock open and a door leading to a set of stairs finally revealed itself.
“Interesting.” He left the door open—God knew if there was a way out from the inside—and he and Tenzin descended the stairs.
The feeling of confinement made his amnis twitch. He was a creature of air now, and the longer he spent in his element, the more confinement uneased him. He wasn’t claustrophobic, but he definitely preferred having space.
They reached the bottom of the stairs, and Ben was pleasantly surprised. It didn’t smell like a normal basement—there was no earthen smell or dampness. The walls were lined in cedar and the floor was polished stone. It was cold and windowless, but other than that, it felt exactly like the rooms in the main house, even down to the wingback chairs and reading nook in one corner.
Ben turned in a circle. “Where is it? It has to be down here somewhere.”
Tenzin walked over to a tapestry hanging on one wall. “Here.” She pulled back a corner and Ben saw the vault door.
He held up the tapestry and asked her, “Can you get in?”
She cocked her head, then crouched down to examine the large wheel that blocked the door. “It’s really just a combination lock with fancier clothes. I can get in, but it’ll take a little longer.”
Ben was mentally calculating how much time they’d already spent in the house. They were nearing twenty minutes at least. “Get to it,” he said. “This is what we came for.”
Tenzin put her ear to the large metal door while Ben held the tapestry up. She fiddled with the lock, turning it right, then left, making mental notes when she hit a catch in the combination.
Ben kept his ear aimed at the stairwell and was shocked when he heard a small tapping coming near the door.
“Shit,” he whispered.
“What? I’m almost done.”
“Someone’s coming.”
Tenzin’s head popped up. “What? I don’t hear… It’s a dog.”
“A dog?” He shook his head. “The dogs don’t go in the house.”
The corner of her mouth turned up. “This one does.”
The clicking of nails on the stairs was unmistakable. Just as Tenzin unlocked the combination and wheeled the door open, a tiny ball of fluff trotted from the base of the stairs over to them and looked up. The animal’s fur was grey with a bright white vee marking his forehead. His ears were floppy grey puffs, and his tail was a pom-pom curled over his back.
“What is that?” Ben asked.
Tenzin laughed a little. “I believe that’s a shih tzu. Or a Tibetan lion dog.”
“Lion dog?”
The small canine squinted up at them, and a low growl came from his tiny squashed face.
“Yes,” Tenzin said. “They were prized by Chinese royalty. Known for their playful personalities and…”
The dog opened its small underbitten mouth and let out a loud string of yaps that threatened to pierce Ben’s eardrums.
“Shit!” He reached to pick the dog up before it could make any more noise. He put a hand over the dog’s muzzle, but the creature continued to growl and bark.
“Yap yap yap yap!”
“Loyalty,” Tenzin said. “They’re known for their loyalty.”
“How do we make it stop barking?”
“Yap yap yap!”
Ben was certain that lights were being tried all over the residence, and even though they were in the basement, the dog’s piercing barks were echoing everywhere.
“Tenzin, do something!”
“They’re usually quite sweet.” She batted Ben’s hands away. “Don’t smother the little thing. He’s only doing his job.”
“You take it then!” Ben held the animal out to Tenzin just as it opened its jaw and snapped Ben’s finger, drawing blood. “Oh, you little—”
“Come here.” Tenzin lifted the dog up to her face and answered its growl with a curled lip and growl of her own.
The little thing let out a small whine and quieted down. Then Tenzin took something from her pocket and gave it to the dog.
“What is that?”
“A piece of bread.” She ruffled the fuzzy head and lifted the collar. “Bowie. Bowie likes bread.”
And Tenzin apparently. After her growl and offering of food, the little ball of fluff had settled into the crook of her arm and snuggled down. Every time Ben got too close though, it growled. Just a little.
Ben snuck back out of the basement and waited at the door to hear if any humans were stirring in the house. He heard a few loud snores, then a murmured admonition and the snoring died down. Five full minutes later, he returned to the basement to see Tenzin standing next to the safe door, the dog nestled happily in her arm.
“Enough dogs,” he muttered. “Let’s see what’s in here.”
He pulled the door wide and walked inside, lifting the electric lantern he’d brought and swinging it around the room.
“Damn, Nigel.” Ben shook his head. “You have been a greedy boy.”
The walls of the room were hung with gold-framed paintings and various crosses that looked to be solid gold. At the end of the room in a glass case was a velvet, gold, and pearl crown sitting on a blue velvet rest. There were carved masks and bronze artwork. Ben spotted the carved wooden box on his second pass.
“Here.” He set the lantern down and reached for the box. “Look at the carvings. They’re typical of Lalibela artwork.”
“Lalibela?” Tenzin frowned. “That was the Zagwe capital.”
“So maybe it was found there,” Ben said. He lifted the hinged lid of the box to reveal a delicate gold, pearl, and diamond diadem. “Oh my God. Here it is.”
“Desta’s crown,” Tenzin said. “It looks just like Lucien’s sketch.”
The delicate circle of gold was rich with pearls and bright blue stones that sat in a diamond-cushioned setting. The motif was lively, with paper-thin gold leaves circling the diadem. Pearls hung from the bottom of the crown with one giant gem in the center that would hang on the wearer’s forehead.
“It’s stunning,” Tenzin said. “Truly fit for a queen.”
“Or the true love of an emperor at least.” He nodded toward the other crown. “Any ideas about that one?”
“Later era,” Tenzin said. “But still well over two hundred years old. Solid gold and velvet. The stones alone are worth a fortune. I don’t think that belongs to the British government, do you?”