Page 58 of The Dark Elf's Surprise Baby

“Where are they?” I demand.

“Where is who, Master?” Ivrir asks.

“Addie and Harper!” I yell.

“They aren’t in their beds?” Ivrir’s brow is furrowed.

No!” I scream at him. “No they aren’t you old, doddering fart!”

“Please, Master Demethys,” Ivrir says, reaching out to place a hand on my arm. “You must calm down.”

“Don’t touch me you stupid old man!” I say, jabbing a finger into his chest. “You should have been doing your job and keeping track of her! Of both of them! I’ve kept you around out of kindness to my parents but you should have retired years ago! You’re nothing but a blathering old fool now and you’ve completely screwed up!”

“Master, don’t be hard on Ivrir,” Bryrion steps forward. “He was asleep, just like the rest of us.”

“What if something bad happened to them? It’s very late. Anything could have happened!” I yell at Ivrir. “Then it’s on your head!”

“Master,” my other servant, Mimlai speaks up. “It’s possible that Harper left you. Like she did before. She might have left you for someone else.”

I stop pacing and turn to stare at the girl, squinting my eyes at her.

“She could have lied about never taking a lover,” one of my other maids, Darhine, speaks up. “Maybe she had a lover on the island and only came here to get money from you and then take off with him.”

“She wasn’t right for you anyway,” Bryrion agrees. “She should have stayed away when she left. Humans aren’t good companions for dark elves. They shouldn’t even be allowed to step foot in here.”

The wheels start turning in my head. I stare at Bryrion who looks back at me with wide, innocent eyes. “Harper chose to leave you,” she points out. “She could have stayed but she chose to leave.”

Something isn’t adding up here. Something seems fishy about this whole thing.

“You lied...didn’t you?” I ask, stepping forward. Bryrion gulps and takes a step back.

“What?”

“You lied,” I continue moving forward, a vulgar parody of the same dance I did with Harper once upon a time. “You lied to me. You weren’t misinformed at all. You were the one who told Harper to leave, it was all on you, wasn’t it?”

“Master,” she whimpers, bumping into the wall. “Please! I did what was best for you!”

“You did it! You pushed her away!”

“We should have gotten rid of her a long time ago!” Bryrion shouts, pushed to her limits. “I should have killed her when I had the chance!”

“You monster!” I scream, flying at Bryrion in pure rage. Her eyes widen as I wrap my hands around her neck and begin to squeeze, lifting her from the ground so she is on her tiptoes as I strangle her.

How dare she do this to Harper! To me! “I thought you were loyal! She was your best friend! How could you do this to the woman I love?”

Bryrion is turning purple and kicking out her feet, digging her nails into my hands to force me to let go but my rage is too great.

“Sir!” Ivrir moves quickly, more quickly than I’ve ever seen him move before and he pulls at my hands, trying to get me off of Bryrion. I knock Ivrir away but my grip on Bryrion is weakened and she manages to break free, falling onto her knees and coughing as she massages her neck.

“I’ll kill you!” I shout, going after her again.

“Sir! What you need to do is to look for Miss Harper and Miss Adelaide!” Ivrir yells.

I stop, breathing hard as I stand there, a look of pure venom directed at Bryrion. She looks up at me with horror in her eyes and her compatriots rush to her side to help her up, supporting her.

“You are fired,” I tell Bryrion coldly. “All of you are fired. Ivrir, you are dismissed from my service. If I see any of you here when I get back, I’ll have you all arrested and thrown into jail for a long time.”

The servants all look at me with confusion and a little hesitation and I take a menacing step forward. “Do you hear me? Get out! Leave!”

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