“Okay.”
Tenzin and Ben floated down to the second-floor landing where, instead of a gallery leading around the house, a massive ballroom took up the east half of the residence. Rococo and baroque-era canvases covered the walls of the ballroom, and the ceiling was painted in brilliant Easter egg colors. Decadent gold plasterwork dominated the space.
“I have the same feeling here,” Ben said. “This room is massive, but it should be bigger.”
“I may know what’s going on.” Tenzin walked to the marble fireplace at the north side of the room and put her hands on the wall next to it.
“What are you doing?”
“Come here.” She was a black shadow against the pale blue wall. “Feel here.”
Ben put his hands on the plaster. It was smooth and cool, the paint was perfect, and gold sconces lined the walls at eye level.
“Do you feel it?” she asked.
“I don’t know what I’m supposed to be looking for.”
“The space.” She put a hand over his. “Feel the space, Benjamin. The air will talk to you now if you know how to listen. Don’t listen to what is there. Feel for what is not there. Feel for the void.”
Voids were everywhere, but as soon as she said it, the disquieting feeling settled and he understood. “There’s a passageway.”
“More than that.” Tenzin smiled. “From the expanse I’m sensing, there are entire hidden rooms.”
Ben turned around in the ballroom, then raced out to the entry hall. “That’s it. That’s why it feels off. It’s too small on the inside.”
“Now we just have to find an entrance.” Tenzin started to search for the seams around the molding. “There will be multiple entrances.”
“So clever.”
“And safe.” She pressed in and a panel pushed out. “Jampot.”
“Wh-what?” He pressed his lips together to keep from laughing. “Jampot?”
Tenzin looked confused. “Eureka? What’s the thing you say when you find something? I forgot.”
“Jackpot.”
“Right.” She pushed the panel in and pushed it to the side. It moved silently on hidden tracks. “Jackpot. Let’s look for the real treasure, shall we?”
“Let’s.” Ben ducked his head to enter the passageway.
Tenzin was right. It was far more than a narrow hallway. This was a comfortable, though by no means grand, room meant for the same purpose as the ballroom. Sconces lined the walls, and comfortable sofas were arranged along the walls. There was plenty of room for dancing or walking.
Unlike the formal ballroom though, the art here was much more eclectic. “This is his real collection.” Ben looked at the walls. “The art outside is the public collection.”
“I thought you said no one came to the house.”
“As far as I know, they don’t. But this is definitely the private collection.”
Not only were there numerous erotic art pieces on the walls, there were three-dimensional art pieces, masks, and modern art.
“Wait.” Ben took a second look at a mask. He leaned closer. “Peepholes.”
“Really?” Tenzin pushed him out of the way. “Oh, that’s clever.”
“Or, you know, creepy.”
“Kind of both.”
Looking through the eyes of the masks, the room beyond was visible. In this case it was only the empty ballroom, but in other circumstances, it would be the perfect place to spy.
Tenzin left the room and walked toward what would be the center of the house. She was as happy as a kid in a candy store.
“You love this, don’t you?”
She turned and her eyes were dancing. “It’s very cool.” She beckoned him with a finger. “Come look.”
The pattern followed through the entryway. A wide hallway lined with sconces encircled the massive walls of the grand entrance, and narrow stairs led to higher and lower floors.
“This is a labyrinth,” Ben said. “You know what this reminds me of.”
“Yes.” Tenzin flew up a wall and into sheer darkness. “An immortal designed this.”
“Without a doubt.” It wasn’t only the lack of windows that gave it away. Ben spotted a few quirks he’d come to recognize in vampire homes.
There were no clocks on the walls, but there were many mirrors, mostly at the end of hallways and at junctions. Vampires didn’t like surprises, and they didn’t much care about time.
Ben had the feeling if the icon was in Gergo Farkas’s home, it was going to be in these passages.
“See anything like the icon?”
“Not yet, but I know we’re on the right track.”
“Unfortunately,” he muttered, “this place isn’t organized in any way.”
“That is very true.”
It was going to take much longer what with twice the number of walls to check.
Farkas’s private collection followed no rhyme or reason. The only common decorating theme was the masks, and all of which he’d checked so far had proved to be hiding peepholes into rooms.
The shadow rooms on either side of the ballroom connected via the entryway, branching off there to run down the center of the house between the entryway and the rooms on the north and south ends. On the north side, Ben found a large library and what looked like offices.
On the south side, connecting through the entryway, were private salons and game rooms designed for amusement. A room devoted entirely to jigsaw puzzles and model making. Another with a pool and snooker table.
Each shadow room reflected the use of the room beyond. Game rooms and private libraries with rare books. Ben spotted more than one edition that would make his aunt and uncle drool.
“Anything like an icon yet?”
“No.” Tenzin landed in front of him. “I have an idea.”
“What is it?”
“Most of these European palaces had a chapel attached. Usually tucked away. Very private.”
Ben looked around at the rare book library. “So if all the shadow rooms reflect the use of the rooms beyond…”
“Find the public chapel,” she said. “Then look for the private one.”
Ben and Tenzin exited the shadow rooms near the entry on the second floor.
“Where is the library?”
“Through here.”
Ben and Tenzin entered the wide and impressive room. Beatrice could have spent hours there, but Ben didn’t have that kind of time. “Look.” He pointed to a small, gilt-edged door between two massive built-in bookcases. “There.”
“Jampot.”
“That’s not a thing, Tenzin.”
Ben and Tenzin walked through the small door and under an archway, only to be immediately assaulted by the scent of incense.
Tenzin sniffed. “Yep. Definitely an Orthodox Christian living here.”
“Okay.” Ben spun in the middle of the intimate chapel, the floor tiled in an intricate mosaic and the ceiling painted with sacred art. “What are we looking for?”
Tenzin began gently pressing on walls. “We’re looking for the real chapel.”
Ben began to copy her movements, and within a few minutes he heard a quiet click behind him.