Page 78 of Queen of Vengeance

Dineta discreetly grabbed the bundle of papers behind my back and hid them behind her so I could go with Dewitt.

“Come on! I ain’t got all day!” he shouted at me, and I rushed out of the cell, standing behind him as he closed it. “Walk.”

He ordered me in front of him, which was strange because he usually dragged me by my arm.

This is a strange encounter, indeed.

He took me down the hall; then, we went up a winding staircase. It was far beyond anywhere I’d been before in the prison.

I wanted to ask, but he would punch me again if I did. I wasn’t protected anymore since giving birth.

We stopped in front of a large black door with a brass handle.

I turned to look at him and he scowled at me.

“What are you waiting for? Open the door!” he yelled, holding up his baton, preparing to beat me with it.

I reached for the handle without looking and stumbled forward into an office.

The bookshelves stacked so high that I couldn’t see where the walls met the ceiling above me. The books appeared to ascend into nothingness.

“Thank you for making your way up here, Miss Nadir,” a familiar voice called out to me.

I looked ahead to see the woman who had sent Jason away.

Her striking purple eyes burned into me without an ounce of humanity between them.

Beside her stood two police officers and one BPR agent.

What would bring a police officer and a BPR agent together? And what did it have to do with me?

I had a glimmer of hope that they discovered I was framed and was about to be sent home.

A smile almost crossed my face.

“We have news from Dask.” The police officer stepped forward to speak first in a sullen tone.

Those words felt like stones in my heart.

Oh, Lunaria… What’s happened?

“There was a fire that occurred in your family’s home. The house is gone.” He tucked his hands behind his back as if he could bow.

My mind reeled with what might have happened.

After all that, we lost the house anyway…

“How are my grandmother and son?” I sighed with relief, assuming that they were fine.

The officers looked at the BPR agent, causing him to step forward and speak.

“We recovered the remnants of an illegal fire potion. That appeared to be the cause of the fire. No one was able to approach it until the fire went out. Anyone that would have been in the house—” He stopped, realizing he didn’t need to finish that sentence.

The horror on my face said it all.

“We didn’t recover anyone.” He spoke in a lower tone before stepping forward once more.

He continued, but I stopped listening.