Page 70 of Darkest Heart

She held my stare, then finally let out a long exhale. “You better find the securest room in this fucking castle.”

“She can stay in my room.”

Carla’s lips twisted. “Let me guess, so you can have your way with me before you send us home.”

I rolled my eyes. “It’s not you I’m interested in.”

Her eyes flitted to Elizabeth, whose cheeks reddened. “Liz? With him?” She pointed at me, and I had a half a mind to rip off her finger. If she wasn’t Elizabeth’s sister. I reined in my temper. I’d done nothing to her.

“I’m not…no. It’s not like that. You know me.”

I suppressed my smile. “Let’s go. I’ll be right back,” I assured Elizabeth, before escorting her to my room.

When we reached my door, she grabbed me by the chest before I could unlock it. “She’s a good person.”

“A lot of people are.”

She balled her fists. “Look, I know why you’re helping…” she whispered, heeding my earlier warning. “But Liz isn’t like us. She cares—deeply. I can see you like her.”

I froze, not knowing what to do with that word. “Stay in here,” I said, pushing her into the room. “Don’t touch anything. You can sleep and shower. That’s it. Try not to make much noise and don’t answer the door.”

I locked the door before she could respond, ignoring her remark, and headed back to Elizabeth’s room. The only thing I wanted to care about was the information about Salenia. So far, any leads about who was summoning demons had come to a dead end. But I knew it was more than that. If the goddess was here, then there had to be a deeper reason than wanting to take the throne.

I entered to find Elizabeth surrounded by blankets, her nose in a book. “Is she safe?” She asked, not looking up.

“Yes.” I shut the door behind me, then sped to the bed. “What did you find?”

“First, I want to say thank you.” she said. “I was hoping you were a man of your word, however…” she didn’t finish, but I assumed she meant however unlikely that was.

“I only brought her here for motivation for you,” I said, although that wasn’t strictly true.

She side-eyed me, then pushed an ancient book across the bed. “I’ve learned a lot.”

“I assumed you would.”

“It seems Vener genuinely cared about the vampires. I suppose, he created them, so it makes sense.”

“I’m familiar with the stories of his turning. Did you find anything else?”

“It would help if I knew what I’m looking for.”

I ran my hand through my hair, then positioned myself on the bed. It wouldn’t hurt to tell her, I supposed. Who would believe her even if she spoke out, anyway?

“You can trust me,” she said, as if sensing my thoughts.

“Trust is the trait of weak men.”

She scoffed a laugh, moving her back up against the headboard. “That’s a joke, right? If anything, it’s the opposite.”

“Trust gets you hurt.”

Her brows pinched together, wrinkling her button nose. “Yeah, when you trust the wrong people. But that’s the point. You get hurt, but you don’t give up. Eventually, we find our people. If I didn’t have Carla, I’d be lost. I know I can count on her and my family for anything.”

“I don’t need,” I said quickly, bringing my focus back to the book. “I can count on myself, and that’s all I need.”

She shot me a pitied look, and I swallowed hard. “That sounds so lonely.”

My stomach knotted. “Enough,” I snapped, and placed a hand on the book. “Did you learn anything about what may have happened in the underworld since she and Vener and his lover ended up there? Perhaps a motivation for her to come back to this world?”

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