Page 101 of Dance With Death

He arches a brow. “I do hope you’re not hiding information from me. That would not end well for you, especially following the attempt to keep me away from Holly. I’ve been lenient but will not tolerate that behavior again.”

“Will you allow me to speak to Dashiell?” I repeat.

“Share your information, Violet.”

I blow air into my cheeks. “The person in the photograph with Madison is Kai’s uncle. Sarah Sawyer’s brother.”

Dorian’s expression darkens. “How long have you known this?”

“Since we spoke to Kai the other day.” I pause and choose not to disclose our latest conversation with Kai. “I request that you don’t storm into the Sawyers’ house, guns blazing, demanding answers, in case that alerts Viktor. Please allow me to follow this up myself more subtly. After all, Madison’s murder is the investigation you deemed inferior.”

The room falls into a thick silence as Dorian turns away, sliding hands into his pockets as he walks to the window. When my father decides to end a conversation, he’ll either lose his temper and leave or send the person away, so I wait impatiently.

“I’ll give you two days.” He turns back to me. “Then I take over. If, in that time, the four of you discover something that imminently threatens you or others, inform me immediately. And if you find precise details about Viktor’s location, again, do not deal with that alone. The last time you met him almost ended in several unwanted deaths, including the bastard necromancer’s.” He pauses. “Viktor can not die until I have everything I need from his mind. You are not to kill him. Understood?”

I take a steadying breath. “Very well. And Dashiell? Can I speak to him before you let him loose?”

Tell me where he is.

Dorian gives me a long look. “I’ll consider your request and let you know the answer tomorrow.”

Seems that the world’s most powerful supernatural creature can behave exactly like any other father. And I can be like a typical daughter—I’ll ask my mother instead.

35

VIOLET

I’ve spent the last few days awake, something not unusual for me as I require less sleep than most individuals, but I can only maintain this state for so long. Tonight, I doze in the bed beside Holly. Or I attempt to—Holly snores on occasion, and this is one of them. The sound could be a pneumatic drill to my sensitive hearing so, rather than smother the girl in her sleep, I retrieve a pair of earphones, turn my back, and finally block out the noise.

My mother sided with Dorian, and did not tell me where Dashiell is located, but I know all the places on the estate where he could be, and I shall search each one until I find the shifter.

Dashiell leaves tonight. With me.

If I was at full potency magically and physically, I wouldn’t bother with resting and would’ve begun my search for Dashiell the moment Holly’s snoring started. Who knows what spell I might face when I sneak in to speak to Dashiell? Viktor may not be able to track the shifter, but I’m still suspicious whether there’s a magical influence on him or not. Could I trigger something? After all, Viktor has a spell on Holly.

Still, I only take a small rest, and I spring out of bed at 1AM, pulling off the earphones as I do. Holly no longer snores, but she isn’t moving. Sleeping soundly enough to miss my exit. Good. Quickly dressing, I grab my phone, and prepare to sneak away.

Wait.

I pull back from my mind’s plan for blood runes in the bathroom to leave the room and attune my senses to the surroundings.

No heartbeat.

My stomach somersaults, and I’m by Holly’s bedside in a second, where I discover the reason why Holly’s heartbeat doesn’t sound in my ears. My friend is not in the bed or the room, her pillows shoved beneath the blankets to give the appearance she’s still here.

Not again.

How?

Holly isn’t in the bathroom either. Heart lodged in my mouth, I rush from the room. Nobody could’ve taken Holly apart from my parents who have no need to, and Dorian never mentioned ‘setting her loose’ too. Eloise assures me that Dorian has no plans to harm Holly, a conversation my friend thankfully did not hear. I snapped back at Eloise that the mere possibility Dorian would hurt Holly shouldn’t exist.

Still, I creep across the house to my parents’ rooms to check for any sign of my friend, but don’t sense anything human. I’ve never known Holly to sleepwalk, but that was before the witch placed a spell in her mind.

A crazy idea that Holly may’ve visited my menagerie by night wanders into my mind, but the girl finds the house creepy enough without plunging into the pitch-black estate filled with undead creatures.

Perhaps she became thirsty? Humans do suffer dehydration at night.

If Holly left to find a glass of water, she got lost on the journey because there isn’t a soul in the large, tiled kitchen. All thoughts of Dashiell evaporate as I prowl from room to room. Where on earth could the girl go? Is she lost in the Blackwood house’s maze-like interior?

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