Page 69 of Demon Found

“She is my allegiance. I don’t want a repeat of Zephyr.”

I better be playing my cards right. Silas was one of the few to witness the slave bond my father forced on Zephyr, and he was openly disgusted.

He regards me for a long beat before turning and shuffling away.

Well, that went swimmingly.

The Solstice break is going to be long. Normally Zephyr and I plan some adventure to break the monotony, but for once Father allowed him to visit his family. I couldn’t ask him to stay simply to alleviate my boredom—he’s getting to spend time with his sisters, dammit.

Naeve’s busy too, distracting her father from her brother’s cult. And Lorelei is ignoring me, which is just screwed up.Shecame on to me, not the other way around. It took everything in my power not to snatch her up and bury myself in her at the ball. But I can’t. I won’t. For our allegiance and the rebellion.

She’ll have to get over it. I’ll have to get over it.

A deep rumble emits from my chest. How is one small woman driving me to distraction? It’s not me. I don’t get distracted, or disturbed, by anything. Much less anyone. I’m better than that. I have more control than that. My father made sure of it.

Punishing myself in the home gym has only taken the edge off my unease. My beast is angry, and it’s me he’s angry at. I’m not used to us being at odds, it’s damn weird. I slip up the back stairs, making for my quarters and my giant bathtub.

The stairs groan under my weight. Smiling, I fall back on the game I played as a kid. I know every step that creaks, every place I can put weight without making a noise. Sure, it was a game, but by playing it, I avoided my father’s wrath.

Pausing two flights up from the basement, I eye the rickety climb ahead. Dust motes dance in the air and a thin gray sheen coats every step. No one’s used this passageway in months, perhaps years.

“She doesn’t trust me. She’s becoming wary.”

That voice. And so close—on the other side of the door off the stairwell, I straighten.

Seth. What the hell is he doing here?

“Then undo the damage.”

My father.

“You won’t be given a free ride to ascension and a place in the new order if you’re of no damn use.” My father is dangerously quiet. When he speaks in that tone, everyone listens. “Destroy her trust in everyone else. Make it so she trusts only Farrell and you. This friendship with the Maverik, annihilate it.”

Seth’s rejoinder is muffled as the two move farther away, but his tone is placating. The slimeball. And my father, what’s his plan? He never does anything without a precise reason. The idea he has some intricate plot involving Lorelei sits heavily on me.

Their conversation plays on repeat as I bathe. What if Silas doesn’t come up with anything? What if he’s my father’s man and not mine? The need to do something proactive gnaws at me. Right now my father will be entertaining dignitaries. There’s a window of opportunity if I just grow some balls.

Taking the back stairs again I make my way down, pausing when I reach the floor with his suite. Silence. Not even a faint hum of voices. Perfect.

I slip out from behind the hideous tapestry depicting the last dragon king and make my way to Father’s office door. I push down on the wrought-iron handle. Locked, of course. But this one I’ve been able to pick since I was ten. The old man needs to up his security game.

Slipping into the office, the smell of smoke and leather hits me, suffocating me. Suddenly I’m just a kid with a trembling lip, waiting for his father’s punishment, praying it won’t be so bad this time. He was a nightmare for any small child, worse because I was his. He always made sure to show me how disappointed he was.

I rake through Father’s desk. Nothing. The files in the cabinet—nothing. Flinging myself back in his leather chair, I glare across the room. A small yellow sticky note taped to his printer catches my eye.

LS = Bal, GPA 5, ? Genus, Ae + f + a

The note is grubby around the edges, well-fingered. It’s so very unlike my father to have any clutter.

LS. Lorelei Smith. GPA? The first thing that springs to mind is high school grade point average, surely that’s not so important he’d have written it down? But she did say she’d gotten into Starlight and Seth and my father got her sent to Fates Academy instead, so maybe it is what GPA stands for.

The distinct sound of the lift draws my attention.

I’m trapped. I can’t get out without being seen. Father’s voice moves closer down the corridor, with the quieter tones of Silas in the background.

“He’s asking questions about her, Sire.”

I freeze, willing them to keep talking. Maybe I’ll know for sure whose side Silas is on.

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