There.

Lucian grinned, his violet eyes shining dangerously.

"I am afraid I do not understand what you mean."

The receptionist frowned. Lucian didn’t care, he could already tell he wasn’t going to get an answer from her mouth, so he was going to use other means.

He stepped towards her and—

"You left a place out."

"I assure you, all client floors have been inspected."

The receptionist answered.

"Client floors."

Lucian repeated.

"Interesting wording."

The receptionist didn’t say anything, Lucian didn’t care, he was only focused on her heartbeat. It was getting faster.

"Cross."

Darius’s eyes sharpened, however, before he could say anything, Lucian raised one hand, silencing him.

And the strangest part?

Darius obeyed for reasons even he did not understand.

Lucian turned back to the receptionist.

"Where is it? Where’s the hidden area?"

"There is no hidden area."

She answered, but her heart skipped another beat.

A lie.

There was a hidden area.

"Is it above?"

Lucian asked. The receptionist didn’t answer, her heart remained steady as well.

"Not above, then."

Lucian frowned.

They were on the ground floor, how could it not be above?

But then, he thought of another thing and—

"Is it below?"

He questioned just in case and the next instant, her heartbeat jumped, it became almost erratic.

The answer couldn’t be more obvious.

Lucian realised it as well.

"So there’s a hidden underground floor."

"No. As I said, there are only three floors.

There is no underground floor."

She shook her head, her voice was still professional, her heart rate however, was much faster than before.

"According to the papers, there is no underground floor in the building."

Mara commented.

"Yes. That is exactly what I am trying to say."

The receptionist nodded.

Lucian didn’t care what the papers said, the papers also said his parents’ deaths were caused by an unknown human intruder, he stopped believing ’papers’ a long time ago.

He only believed his own senses.

So he looked at the receptionist and walked another step closer.

"Where is the entrance?"

"There is no entrance because there is no hidden floor."

"There is."

"Sir, I must ask you to stop this."

"You can ask."

"This facility has been cooperative with every legal request."

"And yet you forgot an entire floor."

"There is no hidden floor."

The receptionist countered and Lucian just smiled.

He did not argue back, he only listened, her heartbeat told him much more than her words ever would. That is what he needed to trust here, his own senses.

He remembered how earlier, when he looked towards one hallway, a staff member’s breathing had stopped for half a second.

Lucian’s eyes moved back to that same hallway and—

"Is it there?"

He pointed.

And once again—

The receptionist’s heartbeat skipped.

And Lucian’s grin widened even further.

"There it is."

Darius looked toward the hallway, Mara lifted her tablet and frowned.

"I checked that area before, there’s nothing out of place there."

Lucian didn’t care.

He looked at the receptionist and—

"Take us there."

He commanded.

"That area is staff-only."

The receptionist answered but Lucian just smiled—

"I think we are past that point, love."

"There are privacy protections."

"Then open them."

"I cannot authorize—"

"You will."

Her mouth closed.

She looked at Darius but he didn’t say anything, the meaning was clear. She needed to take them there.

"As you say."

She nodded and led the group there.

The hallway was shorter than others, the carpet below was the same dark red, the walls were the same clean white.

But the closer they got, the more he could hear.

He let his senses guide him and slowly, he stopped in front of a plain wall near the end.

There was nothing here, only smooth white stone and a small decorative vase on a black stand.

Lucian looked at the vase, then at the wall behind it and—

"How cute."

He smiled.

Mara took that as a cue, she walked beside him and lifted her scanner, at first, the screen didn’t show anything but after about 5 seconds, a faint outline appeared behind the wall and Mara’s face changed.

"T-There is space behind this!"

She exclaimed in surprise.

Lucian’s grin widened, Darius’s eyes turned cold as he looked at the receptionist. The woman took one step back.

"I-I do not know anything about that!"

"Another lie."

Lucian pointed out.

"You did know about it."

The receptionist swallowed, not saying another word because it felt like the more she said, the more it was used against her.

Not that it mattered now—

Lucian was no longer interested in her, he turned back to the wall and expanded his senses again, only hearing what came from the other side.

And once again—

His smile disappeared.

"Cross."

Darius called out.

Lucian did not look away from the wall.

"I found your proof, Captain."

Darius’s eyes sharpened.

"How large is the space behind it?"

He turned to Mara and questioned.

"I cannot tell yet, something’s interfering."

"Take a good look."

Darius ordered, but just then—

"Sir, I must object."

The receptionist stepped forward.

Darius turned to her.

"I have already said I do not know of any hidden floor. If there is some space behind this wall, it is most likely a maintenance section.

This building is old, there are service passages, sealed utility spaces, ventilation lines, old plumbing routes and other things I may not be familiar with. If you damage this wall without a facilities manager present, you may damage electrical systems or treatment equipment."

Lucian raised his eyebrow at those words.

So she was going to fake it even now huh...

He couldn’t believe it.

"Call your facilities manager."

Darius commanded.

"Of course."

She reached for the device clipped to her sleeve. Lucian wanted to stop her, to end this farce here, but he could see doing that would put him in a bad situation, so he did not.

The receptionist touched the device and spoke in a calm voice.

"Mr. Venn, inspection requires facilities access near the west hall service wall. Please come to the third-floor treatment corridor."

She paused.

Then she nodded, even though the person on the other side could not see her.

"Thank you."

She turned back towards Darius and—

"He is on his way."