Page 59 of A Seed Of Peril

Fine with me.

I adjusted the waistband of my leggings, smoothing out the fabric over my belly. After I finished dressing—putting on the oversized t-shirt—I secured my hair into a ponytail.

Stepping into my pink slippers designed to look like a pair of flip-flops, I stretched my lower back, grabbed my phone off the nightstand, and faced another day without my king.

* * *

“Good afternoon, Miss. Wardman,”Luigi greeted, crossing paths with me in the foyer as he walked through the front doors for his shift.

Secretly, I was happy Dominic demoted him from his title as a soldier to cooking our meals and fulfilling minor requests like serving us said meals or cleaning the chamber after rather… Bloody fun sessions. The dirty, I’m-better-than-you-look was ingrained in my memory from our first encounter, and I carried no respect for him since, despite his attitude thawing toward me. I wasn’t sure if Dominic had done something that day or what, but Luigi did a 180. Didn’t mean I trusted him, though.

“Please,” I said, hiding my annoyance at his formality. “It’s Lilith, and good afternoon.” I faked a smile to keep the peace. Luigi smiled. Whether genuine or not was to be determined.

“Where are you off to?”

“We’re checking the mail,” Katrina answered, her mitten-covered hand in mine.

He gave a tight nod. “Enjoy your afternoon.” He walked away, heading off to start his shift.

Good riddance.

Letting Katrina open the door, we stepped outside into the chilly, dreary air. While she was bundled up to protect her from winter’s cold, it was refreshing to me. Regrettably, I chose a pair of leggings instead of shorts.

Thin patches of old snow crunched under our feet.

“When are my uncles coming home?”

Over the past couple of days, Katrina had asked about her uncles and why they weren’t here. That was impossible to answer considering I, too, had no clue as to when they were coming home. I remembered Dominic telling me no more than two weeks. It had already been ten days.

“I think in another four days,” I guessed. “We just have to be patient.”

“Where did they go?”

I didn’t want to lie to her, but what information I knew wasn’t exactly appropriate to explain to a nine-year-old.

“I don’t know, but it must be important.”

“Are they fighting the bad guys that tried to hurt us?”

A pang of guilt struck my heart. We had no choice that day but to break down all that chaos for her. Luckily she was surrounded with all the love and attention and comfort she needed. I hated she was in the crosshairs of those thug assholes.

“They are, honey.”

“Why does it take so long to get the bad guys?”

Talk about a complicated and complex answer. I searched for the words as we descended the driveway.

“It’s complicated. It depends on where the bad guys are and if they’re easy for your uncles to find.”

“You mean they hide?”

“Some do, yes.”

“Like hide and seek?”

I smiled at her analogy. Honestly, politics was the main reason bad guys escaped justice and accountability in this day and age; there were far too many limitations.

That was why we flipped off so-called politics and served our own retribution.

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