Page 23 of Huntress and the Thorn Court
This was how I found myself in Gideon’s office with the Alpha himself and his two highest-ranking wolves. Trey’s eyes bored into my head with a sinister glare when Gideon offered me the chair from behind his desk placing it beside the couch. I could not refuse without risking offending him. That washischair. It didn’t matter that he only offered it because he saw the weakness I was struggling to hide from everyone. I wasn’t one hundred percent yet. The world still tilted, my head still throbbed and I resented Gideon for noticing and yet my heart swelled a little that he had.
“Here’s the problem,” Gideon opened a drawer at his desk withdrawing two knives. “This one,” he held up one. It was a stainless-steel blade with a slightly darker cross-guard. The hilt was black with gold inlay spiraling from the pommel up the cross-guard. The pommel itself had an emblem that I couldn’t quite make out. “Was used when Isabel was attacked in the hall. And this one,” he held up a similar knife. Only difference was instead of a black grip, this one was a royal blue and it was about two inches longer. “Was used in the attack the other night.”
“I’m not seeing the problem,” I muttered wondering if my head was causing me to miss something obvious.
“The emblems. They’re from the same house,” Adam offered.
“That can’t be,” Trey stated his face wrinkled with confusion. “He’s being watched.”
“Who,” I asked.
“Abe,” Gideon offered.
“You think Abe, Malcolm’s brother, is plotting against you by trying to kill me?” As I heard the words aloud, it actually made a lot of sense. Abe was grief-stricken, but the rise against Gideon had happened before I killed Malcolm and Cyrus. Had it just been coincidence that I killed the leader of the rebellion’s family? “They’re trying to frame him,” I realized.
Gideon smiled wickedly as I said what he’d been trying to get us to see. “He’s the perfect scapegoat. They don’t know I put guards on him after his drunken stunt when you first arrived.”
“But,” Adam began. “If you don’t arrest him, aren’t we showing our hand that we’re on to them?”
“Abe was brought in for questioning the night of Isabel’s most recent attack and was given a gag order preventing him from revealing anything.”
A gag order was only something an Alpha could give. It was a demand from the Alpha of the pack. To go against it would have the wolf exiled.
“What does that mean?” Trey asked.
“It means whoever is running the show will have to look for a new patsy.”
“You’re pushing them to show their hand.”
Adam and Trey left Gideon’s office as the meeting ended. I stared at the Alpha as he stood behind his desk sorting through papers while I remained in his chair.
“Why not issue a gag order on to the entire pack?” I wondered. Gideon glanced up at me from under a furrowed brow. “To weed out the rebels?”
Sighing, he ran his palm over his face like it wasn’t the first time he’d considered the question. “Then I’d be a dictator. Don’t get me wrong. The pack is by no means a democracy, but if I was to issue a gag order then I don’t believe I’d be fit to rule.”
* * *
Returningto my room that night, I paused at my door, which was ajar. Cautiously, I pushed it open. Finding the space empty didn’t cause me to relax because there sitting in the center of my pillow on the bed was a white envelope with my name on it in a masculine script.
I searched for any other sign that someone had been there, but beside the envelope not a single item was out of place. Closing the door, I hesitantly approached the bed. Eyeing the note for close to ten minutes, I was unsure if I should touch it. What if it was poisoned? To the bathroom I went, grabbing two hand towels. Wrapping one over my mouth, the other I placed on my hands and gripped the envelope. It was difficult but after a few attempts I manage to open it. No substance fell out, but I still kept the towels in place. Prying the envelope wide, I shook it over the bed and watched a sheet of paper fall onto the comforter.
Narrowing my eyes, I set the envelope down and grabbed the other paper with my covered hands. Unfolding it, I read the note.
Isabel,
Would you like to know who’s responsible for attacking you?
Meet me at midnight under the dome. Tell no one.
Sincerely,
Your faithful guardian
I consideredwhat the letter meant by dome. I reread the letter twice when it occurred to me that the day I arrived I noticed that the manor had a large dome that sat in the center of the house. What else could it be?
Setting the letter on the bed, I moved about the room, this time I sought anything I might use to defend myself. I wasn’t stupid. There was a huge probability this was a trap, but it could be legitimate. Either way, I refused to be unprepared. I grabbed a wire hanger, a deposable razor from the bathroom, and the bulb out of my bedside lamp.
I unraveled the hanger before twisting it around my hand making it into a hook. The razor, I broke out of the plastic. I wouldn’t be able to shave until Eleanor brought me a new one next week, which was a sacrifice I’d make to keep myself safe. The bulb I wrapped in a washcloth from the bathroom. In my closet I searched for something that had big pockets. I found a pair of black high waist pants that tied in the front. They were wide legged making it easier to stuff my pockets without it appearing like I had. I then grabbed a scarlet form-fitting spaghetti-strap shirt. The pants would be a hindrance; the top would not. I debated on a cardigan to help conceal more, but with the three items, the razor I’d hold in my hand while tucking the other two in my pockets, I felt the cardigan would be over kill and would also hinder my fighting capabilities.
