Page 50 of House of Lilith

And there she is, Hilde, sitting in our spot, a cup of piping-hot coffee in her hand and her eyes on her phone screen.

I forget she’s an early riser.

“Morning,” she says as she looks up from whatever she’s reading. Her face is lit up. “You won’t believe the things people are saying about this. It’s like some mystery novel.”

“A cheap one, I’m guessing,” I say flatly as I throw myself in my own chair. And I really don’t like the type of enthusiasm my cousin is bringing to this, but I’m all ears all the same. “Could I get a summary of some kind?”

She beams at me. “Sure,” she says. And then she leans a little forward and starts in a voice that’s barely above a whisper, “So, this Fiain girl says Eryndor, the main suspect, used to be invisible, back at their Academy. Right up until a year ago, when all of a sudden he started making friends and became their alpha’s right hand.”

I just blink at her for a second. “Hilde,” I start, in a voice that’s as patient as I can make it, “you’re describing an introvert who overcame his shyness.”

“Hm,” she says, thinking for a second. “I guess you’re right, but listen to this. One of ours managed to get his hands on the memory they got from Professor’s head.”

My eyebrows shoot up, but instead of going into more detail, Hilde shoves her phone under my nose.

It’s a comment on one of the posts on the main Academy board.

“Holy shit, everyone, I just saw the memory and it’s so fucking creepy. You can see when the professor gets grabbed by the way he stops putting his bag away and looks up, staring at some spot on the empty wall before him. And then this raspy voice threatening him. Whatever I do, I can’t shake it off! We have a killer at the Academy. Just hope they take him to prison as soon as possible.”

It gives me the creeps, reading about it. But what my mind chooses to linger on is the word ‘raspy.’ I know I heard him talk once, in passing.

“Hilde?” I ask, still staring at the screen. “Have you ever spoken to Eryndor?”

“No, but I did see him a couple of times. He’s actually kind of cute.”

I look up. “Would you say he’d have a raspy voice?”

She thinks for a second. Then she frowns. “No,” she says. “No, I wouldn’t. But I knew this one girl in high school who…”

I stop paying attention to her. It’s still the crack of dawn, but the Pied Piper did say the Authority Officers will be here first thing in the morning.

And right now, all I can think about is Uncle Ludwig calling my name in his raspy, raspy voice.

But more importantly, the flush on his cheeks when he took the book out of that Officer’s hand.

The book that may as well have been a journal.

So I get up and I start marching out of the Common Room, only one thing on my mind. But before I even reach the steps, Max comes to block my way.

*

“Still mad at me?” he asks, throwing me his most apologetic look.

I take a deep breath and I force myself to say, “Actually, I am.”

“Anastasya,” he urges as he comes to take my hand in his, “I’d just found out there’d been a murder and I found you standing there, chatting with one of them.” He throws me an incredulous look. “How was I supposed to know you weren’t inimmediatefucking danger?” And he waves a finger in front of me. “You know, there are plenty of women out there who’d appreciate it, their future husbands caring about their safety. Even if they weren’t princes.”

I let out a frustrated breath, but I don’t pull my hand out of his. “Max, I’m not mad that you got scared for me.” I shake my head. “I’m not even mad that you let yourself be incredibly insensitive to an unsuspecting guest.”

“Unsuspecting guest my ass,” he cuts in, snatching his hand away.

“Will you stop it already?” I urge him.

He just looks at me for a second. Then he smiles and says, “Fine.” And he takes a step closer, taking my hand again. “But if it’s not that which bothers you, what’s the problem then?”

For one long moment, I stay silent, feeling such reluctance to even mention it. When I finally speak, it’s a plea in a hushed voice, “You can’torderme to come with you, Max. You canask, but you can’t order.”

He gives me a little frown. “I didn’torderyou to do anything.”

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