Page 78 of The Duke and the Disciple

She dug in her pocket for the key, but the door was cracked. Except she knew she’d closed it.

Going for her dagger occurred to her, but it was a silly notion. She was safe in Wulfsgate, safer than anywhere else. It was likely a member of the kitchen staff cleaning up their supper remnants or leaving more fruit in the bowl.

Except the staff always left and collected their food outside the door.

There was only one way to find out.

Straightening, Aesylt entered and found Pieter sitting in her chair, hunched over, a piece of vellum in his hand.

She knew right away what it was.

Unanticipated fire exploded within her. She launched herself across the room, practically flinging herself through the air, as he looked up in shock, in disbelief. He had just enough time to cover his face before she was clawing for the letter.

“That’s mine!” she screamed, reaching for the paper he held high above his head, higher than she could reach. “You had no right!”

“Aesylt, calm the?—”

She leaped for the paper and went crashing onto the desk when she missed. “Give it fucking back!”

Pieter shot to his feet, his hand still stretched above his head like a challenge. But he was remarkably tall, and there was no chance of besting him in a game of height, so she sucked in a hard breath and hurtled herself at him as hard as she could, knocking them both to the floor.

She growled and climbed him, but he held her back with an arm at her neck. When she started gasping and choking, he relented but asked, “Will you calm down?”

“You have no—” She coughed and spat in his face. “That is not yours. You cannot?—”

Pieter bolted upward and licked her face, catching her so off guard, she momentarily relented. He used the opportunity to shake her off of him. “Guardians, Aes, I don’t remember you being so damned feisty. Will youcalm down? Please?”

“I willcalm down,” she said through gritted teeth, panting as she pushed back to her feet, “when youreturn my property.”

“I wanted to tell you that I canhelpthe two of you, with your Reliquary conundrum.”

Aesylt went for her dagger. She unsheathed it and held it out, drawing a stunned look from Pieter. “Give. It. Back.”

“I’ll give it back,” he said calmly, unruffled by her brandished weapon, “when you cool down.”

Aesylt sucked in through her nose, her entire body aflame. He’d read the letter from Val’s family. The oneno oneelse knew about—and could never know about. “That letter, Pieter, is none of your business.”

“Oh, I disagree.” Pieter shook his hand in the air. “This letter is why you’re here, in my home. So it is my business.”

“You mean the home you turned your back on?” She narrowed her eyes, her nose flaring. “Where were you anyway? What did you do that your own family won’t even speak of it?”

He tossed a casual glance up at the letter. “I don’t recommend complying with the Barynovs’ extortion. It won’t end with marriage. They’ll use you to push your brother out and take his place, and I would not expect it to be bloodless.”

Aesylt closed her eyes momentarily to center herself. The letter was one problem, but why he was in her room, rooting around, was the real issue. “Tell me what you were doing in my room when you thought I wasn’t here.”

“Looking for this,” he said coolly. “I knew there was more you weren’t saying. I have to know what trouble might find its way to our steps.”

“Do you even care? The heir who turned his back on his birthright?”

“I care about my family.” He cocked his head. “I care about you.”

Aesylt’s fury returned in an instant. “You’ve beenplayingme.”

“Untrue.”

“What is it you expected to find in here?” Another thought, this one far more terrible, occurred to her. Her notes... But the drawer was still locked. Unless he had a copy of the key?

Rahn’s notes, however, were stacked on his desk in a neat pile. It was impossible to tell if they’d been disturbed.

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