Page 119 of When Night Falls

"You need to open the door, Ka-"

Rivian.

An anguished whisper creeps into my head, pain and fear caressing it.

"Do you hear that?" I look at Kacian, confusion washing over his expression as he looks up and down the hallway trying to pin what I'm talking about.

"No, sir."

"It's Lucynda." I'd recognize that voice anywhere, but it doesn't soundreal.

"I don't hear anything-"

Rivian.

Another cry for help.

"Break the door down!" I demand but Kacian gives me an apprehensive look.

"You can't go-"

"For fuck's sake, Kacian. I get that you are to follow the orders of the queen, but I am your king! Break the fucking door down or I will break your fucking neck!"

With not an ounce more of hesitation, Kacian blows out a breath and rears his shoulder into the locked door, wood splinters in the air as the frame tries to hold on to the hinges.

I swarm her room, finding it to be eerily empty. The curtain sheers blow around in the breeze from her open windows, her bed seems to have been made or rather untouched.

"Where the fuck is she?" I shout, rushing to the bathroom while Kacian checks the closet.

"Sir, I swear she hasn't come out or even-"

Rivian.

Her delicate voice, affrighted and cold, enters my head again and I know this time . . . she is summoning me.

Without another second wasted, I close my eyes and let my wife's voice pull me to her.

37

sworn to secrecy

unknown

I peek my head around the corner of the hallway as I watch Rivian and his guard burst into Lucynda's room.

Pride swells in my gut when I realize that everything is happening exactly the way I planned it.

I reach into my pocket for my phone, pulling it out and dialing his number. I notice a glove fall out of my pocket simultaneously so I reach down to retrieve it as I watch the hallways carefully for a few beats to make sure no one is watching me.

Stuffing the glove back into my pocket and waiting for the phone to pick up, I turn around to head back to the main level.

"Hello?" The voice on the other side of the line answers.

"He's gone. You can come over now," I respond as I climb down the stairs and into the foyer making my way toward Rivian’s office.

"Are you positive?"

"Yeah, he'll be busy for a while. I'm sure." I let a smirk crawl over my face as the cool air hits me from an open window nearby.

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