Page 53 of Fae King's Secret Baby

I wracked my brain to think of what could have killed a relatively young fae.

“Murdered!” Tristiana screeched. “He was just murdered outside of Maximo’s! Someone killed him right here, under our noses, Mare!”

Dizziness swept through me as an unbidden, terrifying thought forced its way into my head.

“No…” I gasped, but Tristiana’s traumatic wails drowned out my denials.

“Who would do something like this? Are we safe here?” she blubbered.

And for some awful reason, all I could see was the fury in Nyx’s eyes the night he had attacked Jergin.

“I’m coming to you,” I told her, trying to stand without shaking.

“You can’t. The police are everywhere. They’ve sealed off the area. Stay there with the king, but let him know what’s going on, would you?”

I gulped and looked around the otherwise empty apartment.

“Will do,” I whispered as she hung up.

I closed my eyes and willed myself to think sensibly, but I couldn’t stop the torrent of doubt from spreading inside me.

Oh, Nyx. What did you do?

Once again, my palms splayed protectively over my belly, and I was secretly glad I didn’t tell Nyx about his child yet.

Chapter 16

Nyx

Hell broke loose, and I didn’t understand why at first.

It had begun as a perfectly normal day, the Council meeting tense like the day before, but I was getting eye contact at a minimum. We managed to get through the roster of issues when I received an unexpected visitor in the hallway, after the session had wrapped up for the day.

I groaned aloud to see the enchantress in the hallway, pacing so hard, her long, red mane was flying.

“You need to come straight back to the castle,” she informed me bluntly. “No stopping at your dancer’s house.”

“Stop calling her that,” I barked, annoyed at Odette’s refusal to accept Maren, even now that she wasn’t on the property.

“Never mind the dancer,” she growled. “You have real issues to deal with. At home.”

I paused to look at her, noting the seriousness of her tone. “What’s going on?”

“Not here,” Odette insisted before vanishing in a plume of pewter. I hated when she did that. She always chose to disappear mid-conversation, and it was annoying as fuck.

Reluctantly, I gathered my belongings and headed out to the car, the rest of the Council already long gone, including Harman.

Outside, my nostrils immediately picked up the whiff of fire, and my head turned instinctively to look.

“What’s going on?” I demanded. “Is there trouble in the city?”

The head of the Royal Guards stepped forward to respond before I could enter the vehicle. “There has been a spike in crime today,” he explained. “The police are dealing with the matter.”

“What crime?” I demanded, looking down the street for evidence. “How are they handling it?”

“The safest place for you right now is the castle, Alpha,” he replied urgently. “Please.”

I couldn’t argue with that, especially when I had no idea what had happened in the eight hours I was in session, but dread overcame me at the thought of someone terrorizing South Havenmire under my watch.

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