Page 29 of The Crownless King
Raven nodded. “I just found out that you were being held here. I also told them that Ms. Sophia would show up knocking all this shit over if he didn’t allow you to go to work.”
“Thank you for both. I was going to go crazy if they kept me locked in that room.”
Raven frowned. “He locked you in?”
“My mouth may have had something to do with it,” she admitted.
“Before the stone, maybe Levi could be reasoned with, but under the power of the Akachi there isn’t anything I can do to help you. Where are you headed?”
“My mom likes to walk after dinner.”
“Can I join you? That way you can explain how you got yourself into this situation.”
Amaya nodded. Having company was a good thing. She’d only had her mother and the wall to talk to in the evenings. She gathered Anita and the three of them traipsed downstairs out a side door to the back yard. The night was humid and she was glad that she’d already wrapped her hair for the evening.
Walking around the Bayi compound was way safer than in their old neighborhood. Even though her Uncle Paul took his sister out some days, Amaya had still used their evening walks to allow her mother to get out of their small house. Anita walked ahead of them, humming to herself, and she and Raven hung back a bit to talk with some privacy.
“So, explain,” Raven demanded.
Amaya laid out everything from the moment her uncle met her outside of her job until she found herself locked in a posh bedroom.
“I should’ve just let him kill Uncle Paul,” she muttered as she finished.
Raven gasped. “Girl!”
Her mother turned around and gave her a chastising look. Amaya held up her hands. “I didn’t mean it.”
At least she hadn’t meant to say it out loud.
“Lucas said Buru have been at your house.”
Her heart rate picked up. “Seriously?”
“Despite the fact that I don’t like the way this went down, I think, in his way, Levi is trying to keep you safe.”
Amaya rolled her eyes. “Is this your way of keeping me from asking to go home?”
Raven shook her head. “I’m not fixin’ to stop you from trying to get out of here, but I will give you something to think about. Do you think Ms. Anita will be safe at your house when you’re not there?”
Her heart clenched. Her mother had so many good days in this mansion that it was making Amaya more reluctant to leave, so Raven’s words were unnecessary. Still, she pondered them. Going home to an empty house with no one there for her mom during her workdays would be troublesome. But, trusting her Uncle Paul to watch his sister was no longer a viable option, and if she cut her hours any more, she and her mother would be eating ramen noodles for the rest of their lives.
“Did your mate send you to convince me to give the king a chance?”
“Guilty,” Raven admitted with an impish smile. “And not really to give Levi a chance. Bas was hoping you would stop…poking at him. His temper these days…”
Amaya sighed. “Fine.”
“I’ve never seen him this…obsessive,” Raven told her. “Mind you, I’ve only known him for a couple of years, but still. He’s single-minded when it comes to you. If it weren’t for the curse, I would almost think…” she trailed off.
“What?” Amaya’s stomach rolled in nervousness.
Raven shook her head. “Nothing, it’s silly. We both know what would happen if a Bayi and Chawi mated, so I’m sure it’s not that.”
Amaya bit her lip to keep from asking more questions. She didn’t want to mate Levi, so the point was moot, but…did he think she was his mate?
“Ms. Anita, would you like to have tea at my place?” Raven changed the subject and walked to catch up with her mother. Amaya was perfectly fine talking about something else, so she didn’t object.
“You have a house here?” her mother asked.
