Page 24 of The Crimson Walls Of Algorath

“Of course not, Father.” She stood a little straighter and hid her hands behind her back, squeezing her fingers again and again. He would not strike her. Not right before presenting her to the Society.

“Then tell me,” he growled, “where she is. She has not been about the manor in nights. Must I drag her from her room myself?”

Now Alek’s coal-like gaze flickered to the other Caersan man, the space between his brows narrowing. “Perhaps she is ill.”

“Perhaps,” her father spat, “she has become determined to ruin me—after all I have done to conceal what would have been the scandal for the millennium. I will not have tonight ruined.”

Emillie inhaled deeply and looked between them. “Father, I just want to move forward with this announcement, with or without her presence. Please, let us celebrate, not argue.”

“Indeed.” Alek nodded once to her and stepped forward, pulling a long, narrow box from his pocket. “I believe it would be inappropriate for us to proceed without the formal jewelry.”

The engagement necklace within was simple yet stunning. Alek had remembered her love of all things minimal. A thin strip of blue velvet so dark it almost appeared black held a single pale sapphire. The rich color caught the light and sparkled like a diamond.

Pulling it from the box, he stepped around her and clasped it around her throat. “You look quite beautiful tonight, Miss Harlow.”

“Thank you, my Lord.” Emillie plastered a smile on her face. He knew as much as she that this was but an arrangement. A symbiotic relationship to benefit them both. He needed a wife. She needed a man’s voice to speak for her. He had played his part well so far, so she would do the same for him.

“Shall we?” Alek held out an arm to her, which she took.

They turned to her father expectantly, but he did not return their look of eagerness. Instead, he glared at her, then said, “Lord Nightingale…I need a moment with my daughter.”

Alek stiffened. “My Lord?”

“I must speak with her in private.”

Emillie gripped his arm hard, a silent plea for him to stay. If he remained, her father might not escalate as he was wont to do when alone.

To her despair, Alek nodded and took his arm back. “I will be just outside, then.”

With that, he was gone, and she remained, utterly alone, to face her father’s wrath. For a long moment, they stared at one another. She did her best to not look away—to resist the urge to hide herself from him.

“You have lied to me tonight.” Her father took a calculated step forward, his nostrils flaring with his temper.

She froze. He could not see her back away. To give in to a predator’s advance and flee turned one into prey. She would not give him the satisfaction.

“Do you want to know how I know this?” He stepped forward again.

Emillie met his gaze and set her jaw in defiance. “I have no idea of what you are speaking.”

“Astra is missing.” Another step.

“What?” Gods, she prayed she could convey surprise in her voice. Perhaps the shock at him having investigated this was enough to make it realistic.

Her father bared his fangs—something he had only ever done toward someone he truly despised. “How long has she been gone?”

Emillie’s eyes filled with tears. “What are you talking about?”

He slammed a fist onto the small table beside him. The wood cracked from the impact, and Emillie flinched with a small whimper. He flexed his fingers, the bruises already blooming on his knuckles. They would disappear in moments. “You did this.”

“No,” she rasped and shook her head again and again. “Please, Father, I had nothing to do—”

“Lies!” Another crack of his fist against the table. “Where is she?”

The doors swung open behind him, and Alek swept back into the room like a wraith on the wind. His face drawn into taut, furious lines, he stepped between Emillie and her father. “You do not speak to her like that.”

“She is my daughter.”

“And she is my fiancée.” Alek held his chin a little higher. “And tonight is to celebrate our upcoming union, not to threaten her for something she had no part in.”

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