Page 54 of House of Lilith

Exactly my problem. I push past him and I open the door. I have to fight to keep my voice flat when I look over my shoulder to say, “Rest assured, Uncle. If you’re innocent, you’ve got nothing to fear.”

*

Shaking with emotion, I march all the way downstairs, where I heard they moved Eryndor. And just as I arrive at the landing of Level Minus One, which is the dungeons, the Elevator door opens and out step two somber-looking Authority Officers clad in their usual forest green uniforms.

My heart sinks deep into my stomach. Am I too late?

I am, I think as I watch them head straight for the stairs leading down and into the cells, their black boots loud against the stone floor.

“Wait a minute,” I call out, making them stop midstep and turn to me.

And it takes a bit of convincing and I only succeed because of who I am, but they do let me see him, to get fifteen minutes with him before they take him away.

I just need to make sure, I think as I rush down the stairs and into darkness broken only by torch light. I just need to make sure I won’t be potentially harming Uncle for someone whoisthe killer after all.

But when the guard opens the door for me and I step into the cold damp of the dungeon, it’s not just Eryndor I see there, huddled on a stone bench along the wall.

Sitting right next to him is his alpha, Dahrian.

And he’s staring straight at me.

My heart breaks into a gallop, my mind scrambling for an explanation as my eyes scan his face.

So serious, he looks more serious than I’ve ever seen him.

It’s been twelve hours and he still hasn’t left Eryndor’s side?

Chapter 12 - Dahrian

Shebargesinlikeshe owns the place, making my eyes narrow and my jaw clench. My fox immediately stirs from his sleep, sticking his nose out to take a whiff of her.

Even now... I push him away, harsher than I normally do. She stops at the door and it gives me a smidge of satisfaction, seeing the surprise on her face when she spots me sitting next to my friend.

But it doesn’t last long. It just turns into another sign of how shitty everything’s turning out to be. It was a mistake, coming here, I think as I throw daggers at her.

“If you’re looking for your boudoir, Your Highness,” I tell her in a mocking voice, “this is not it.”

Nowthatgets her worked up, her cheeks flushing with anger.

For fuck’s sake, stop it, I tell myself, stop trying to get a reaction out of her.

She presses her lips tight and turns to look at Ricky. “I came to talk tohim.”

“Ricky?” I demand. “What’s your business withhim?”

“Dahrian,” Ricky starts, but I don’t let him finish. I don’t take my eyes away from her, not for a second.

I get up, suddenly, making her flinch a little. And I walk up to her, slowly, this sinking feeling in my stomach as I burn holes in her eyes. “I don’t think you have any, so you may as well go back to Prince Charming,” I tell her in a low, warning voice. An image of her flashes through my mind, that look she threw me when she got me pinned during the First Game. And the jolt of electricity it gave me.

Right now, it’s a defiant one she’s giving me. “The Authority Officers are already upstairs. Trust me,” she says, “you’re not doing him any good by turning me out.”

I let out a bitter scoff. “Trust you?” And I look at her for a second longer, wondering how my instincts could’ve fooled me so badly. “You know what day we’ve had, Ricky and I?”

I have to ignore the way her eyes stay on mine, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to go on. “I won’t bore you describing the kind of accommodation your Academy provided until I intervened. I’ll just say I highly doubt the investigation was carried out by the books. In fact,” I say, pausing to throw daggers at her, “there seems to be a woman going around looking for an item the Authority claim they didn’t find, even though Ricky clearly saw them throw it in the evidence box, didn’t you, Ricky?”

And I turn to look at him, for the first time since she entered the room. My friend throws me a funny look and then glances at our esteemed visitor, giving her a nod.

I turn to look at her again, finding her pressing her lips even tighter, as if she’s trying to control herself. “So no,” I say, as flatly as I can, “Iwon’ttrust you. That’s a mistake I’ve already made.”

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