My life and the lives of others would be compromised. You understand?"Dan and Amy nodded."My mother, my grandmother -- all of them were Lucians. I, too, am a Lucian. But like so many who are born into one branch or another, most of my family was never actively involved in ... what is Grace calling it?
The clue hunt. In fact, for a very long time, my mother was unaware of her Lucian heritage at all.
Then came my father, who my mother met much later in life. He was one of the most powerful Lucians of the past fifty years.
Before the Kabras, it was my father in charge. It's why I hold such a sensitive position, why we got involved to begin with. So you see, I am a Lucian, a very powerful one at that.
But I am first and foremost myself."Nataliya brushed a dark strand of hair away from her face. She was so elegant and poised, but she had inherited that mischievous Anastasia flair Amy had talked so much about."Why are you helping us?" Dan persisted.
He still didn't understand what Nataliya's story had to do with them. Why would an heir to the Romanov throne care about two kids?
Nataliya looked at her gold watch again, then tapped her desk phone."Irina has requested backup. Prepare the Shark for departure in fifteen minutes."Nataliya turned her gaze to Amy. "I sent you on this chase for many reasons," said Nataliya. "The first was to distract my Lucian counterparts, to confuse them.
The Kabras are thousands of miles away in Siberia, and Irina has been frustrated at every turn. Mission accomplished. The second reason was to discover what you are made of.
You've been tested all along, no? You knew right away that it would take more than yourselves to find the room. I would never have guessed that anyone could bring the Holts under control, but you did it. It is imperative that you learn to work with others to achieve a greater good."
"Okay, so we passed this test and outsmarted the Lucians," said Amy. "I still don't see why you're helping us."
"Or if you're helping us at all," Dan muttered. Nothing Nataliya had said so far led him to believe their dangerous hunt all over Russia would even lead to a Clue."I will guide you to what you are looking for," said Nataliya. "Both in this ridiculous contest and beyond."
She gave them a meaningful look.Dan's throat tightened. "You're talking about our parents, aren't you?"Nataliya tapped an index finger on the desk.
She was extremely quiet. It was as if ninety-nine percent of her body had turned to stone, leaving just the finger. Tap, tap, tap.Finally, after Dan had popped every knuckle on both hands,
Nataliya spoke. "Certain information, when you find it, changes you forever. You wish you could go back, but you can't. And still we go searching after secrets. I never wanted any part of this madness about clues, and yet here we all are." She paused. "The Amber Room is hidden in a vault of Lucian secrets.
There you will find the Lucian clue and also information about your parents."Nataliya shook her head. "Grace was very fond of pulling strings, even from the grave. I counsel you to walk away from all this.
But if you will not, I will help you. I warn you, you might not thank me for it later."Nataliya looked at Amy, then turned her mesmerizing eyes to Dan. "I help you because it is what Anastasia Romanova would have wanted. I help you because it is right. But I cannot say if you will like what you find."
Amy was openly crying, and Dan could feel his own eyes fill with tears. It was too much, help that was not help, an ally that fed them riddles and unsavory hints about their parents and Grace. Dan could feel the earth shifting beneath his feet. Again. There was no safe place for them, no one to trust.
And no home to go back to.
He looked at Amy and they both nodded."We want to go to the Amber Room," said Amy.
Nataliya tipped her head to them and stood up, taking the long white coat in her hand."We must hurry, then," she said. "It won't be easy if Irina arrives before you."
Nataliya slid open a desk drawer and removed a small tin canister. Opening it, she took out two small keys and placed them in a pocket of her white coat."Do you know where my ancestors were massacred?"
"Yekaterinburg," Amy said. "In a house there.""Where the Church on the Blood now stands. A terrible name, but sadly appropriate. The church was built much later, but underneath ... it was there, in the basement, where all of them were shot. Only my mother survived."
"And you're taking us there in this thing called the Shark?" asked Dan, brightening for the first time. Nataliya went to the door. She opened it and peered down the long, dark hallway."The Shark is the quickest way. Now we go."Dan and Amy followed Nataliya into the hallway.
They arrived at an elevator and boarded. Dan had imagined some sort of high-speed watercraft, so he was surprised when the elevator went up instead of down. It opened on the roof of the State Kremlin Palace."Here we are," said Nataliya."That's the Shark?" asked Amy, but Dan was already running toward it.
"It is the fastest helicopter in Russia. She will do three hundred."The Shark was twice the size of a normal copter, completely black, with a rudder that looked like a shark fin."No way!" said Dan.
"Three hundred miles per hour? That's, like, a world record!""Many world records such as these have long been broken." Nataliya smiled. "We Lucians keep the best toys for ourselves."Dan ran a circle around the Shark and tried to pry open one of the doors."He's excitable, isn't he?" asked Nataliya."You don't know the half of it," said Amy.
Nataliya put her arm around Amy and drew her close. "You show great promise. Grace would have been proud of you."Amy gave her a watery smile.
"Now you must go," Nataliya said. "What? I don't understand," said Amy. "Aren't you coming with us?"
"I can't.""But... why n-n-not? And how are we supposed to fly this thing? We're not pilots!"
"I will fly you by remote control. I'll get you there safely. But I can't go with you.""No way!" yelled Dan, bounding over next to them. "It's like the best video game ever!""I don't understand!" Amy protested."If I could, I might hunt the clues myself. But you read about my uncle.
You know the struggles he faced."Amy nodded. Alexei Romanov had been a hemophiliac.
The slightest cut would leave him bleeding for weeks."I suffer the same fate," said Nataliya.
She put her hand in the white pocket and Dan imagined a red stain of blood appearing on Nataliya's snowy jacket."A skinned knee or elbow, a bloody nose or a simple cut -- if I start bleeding, it doesn't stop.
Even with medicine, it's too dangerous for me." Nataliya held out the keys and Amy took them, nodding sadly."I'll be in constant communication," said Nataliya. She smiled. "Put on the headphones and get ready for the ride of your life."It was time to head into the Lucian black circle.
CHAPTER 14
Riding in the Shark made Amy scream with terror. Dan, she assumed, was screaming with joy."Wait until Hamilton hears about this! It's untoppable!"The Shark was stunningly loud at top speed, and Nataliya was pushing it as fast as it would go from her location beneath the Kremlin."I love flying the Shark," Amy heard Nataliya say into her headset."But you're not really flying it," yelled Amy, trying to be heard over the sound of the blades.
It was a scary sensation, flying in a helicopter without a pilot."You don't have to yell, I can hear you perfectly," said Nataliya. "From where I'm sitting I might as well be flying the Shark.
My control room for the Shark is quite amazing. It's a replica down to the leather on the seats, with wraparound monitors on every side. Front, back, bottom, top -- it looks and feels as if I'm really flying the Shark. The only thing missing is the wind and the noise."
"You're lucky," said Amy. "It's rough up here, and loud, and s-s-scary.""No need to be the slightest bit afraid, Amy. The Shark knows I am its boss.""What's up, sis?" screamed Dan, bouncing up and down in his seat. "No throwing up in the Shark or we throw you overboard!""Close your eyes," said Nataliya.