Page 42 of Death and Donuts

“I will announce you,” Tryn said before slipping inside.

Shepard brushed my hair off my neck. “I’ll carry you down when it’s time to leave.”

“Deal.”

The doors opened wide, and our escort motioned us forward.

I wasn’t sure what I’d expected, but the cozy living room decorated in gold and silver brocades wasn’t it. An older man sat on an appropriately sized sofa along with a young woman. Both of them wore custom-tailored clothes that probably cost more than my rent. But I didn’t envy them that when they also wore their grief like a cloak. It weighed their shoulders and their movement as they got to their feet to welcome Shepard.

“It is good to see you again, Alpha,” the king said.

“I’m sorry it’s under such circumstances,” Shepard said.

The man nodded and sat again with a sigh, gesturing for us to do the same. His gaze swept over us, lingering on Cross.

“It is the cruelest of fates for a parent to outlive their child,” Cross said. “You have my deepest condolences.”

“You aren’t what I was expecting.” King Curran looked from Cross to Shepard. “I didn’t fully believe you when you said you would bring a vampire with you. I never would have thought the wolves would agree to a truce with vampires.”

“We haven’t,” Shepard said. “The truce is with Cross alone, not his kind.”

“And why is Cross the exception?”

“He doesn’t feed like the rest of his kind,” I said, needing to speak on Cross’ behalf. “Not for sport or control or pleasure. And there’s also this.” I lifted Cross’ hand to show the ring he wore.

His fingers lightly squeezed mine in affection, and I released my hold as Curran’s gaze landed on me.

“We haven’t been introduced,” he said.

“I apologize,” Shepard said. “This is Everly Reid, a friend of the Hunters and a human Cross and I both implicitly trust.”

I would need to remind him of that the next time he questioned where I was going.

The king nodded to me. “You may call me Curran. This is my daughter, Indri.”

She was lovely with dark hair and vivid blue eyes. She sat poised next to her father, but I could see it took effort to keep a calm expression.

“I’m sorry to meet you under these circumstances,” I said.

Curran nodded and looked at Shepard and Cross again. “I would very much like to know why Miles sent a message to both of you. It wasn’t what I’d expected when I’d allowed him to use his phone. I’d hoped he would message his accomplice.”

“Accomplice?” I echoed.

“Yes, we wanted to believe he didn’t act alone when he…” Curran’s hazel eyes watered, and he cleared his throat. “When he poisoned my son.”

Poisoned? Miles? It didn’t make any sense.

Indri started silently crying, and I looked at Shepard. His hand covered mine, giving me comfort.

“Miles isn’t the kind of human who would poison another person,” Shepard said.

“His parents have stated the same, which is why I was willing to believe perhaps someone misled him. At his age, he would still have much innocence yet to lose. I’d hoped, for their sakes, he was coerced or tricked.”

“Or thralled,” Cross said. “With your permission, I would like to discover the truth.”

Curran nodded and stood. “Come. For the safety of my daughter, we’ve locked him away.”

Indri and the rest of us followed the king out the main doors, which opened at his approach. We didn’t speak as we descended the stairs–only one set, thankfully–and took a hall that branched from the landing.

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