Page 81 of Haze

I knock on the door despite it being open, and Cade looks up at me.

“Aunt Alora and Uncle Elliot are here.” My voice comes out hoarse and difficult.

I draw a deep breath.

“What?” Cade looks past me.

“Yeah.” I nod, raising my eyebrows. “I left them to let themselves in, and I’m sure they’ll be right behi—”

“Lena?” Uncle Elliot calls.

From the corner of my eye, I can see them down the hallway, brisk steps carrying them toward me at a fast clip. No escape.

“What do you want me to do?” Cade whispers, his eyes wide. “Do they know we know?”

I shrug and step out of the hallway into his office, moving to stand in front of his desk. “I don’t know. I told Dinah I didn’t want to talk to them about it. Why are they here?”

“I’m guessing Judah probably called them. He probably didn’t get the memo of what we know now. How could he have known not to call them and they’re here because—” Cade hisses a whisper to me, but we’re too slow.

“Knock knock.” Aunt Alora says, crossing the threshold into Cade’s office.

Cade stands up from his chair and steps around his desk. With the furniture layout of his office, his graceful steps put him between them and me.

I back away from him toward the sliding glass door opposite the entrance to his office, which would be great to escape through. Except that Cade, in order to resist the temptation of running away from his responsibilities, didn’t have a staircase installed from his deck to the ground.

My older brother stands between me and my biological parents. Once again, my shield against the world.

“What’s wrong?” Aunt Alora furrows her eyebrows.

I move closer to the sliding glass door and look out the window. In doing so, I can see her reflection in the pristine clean glass. She has her hands raised, ready to clean Cade’s aura when she steps closer to him.

“Nothing.” Cade lies quite well. “We weren’t expecting you. I don’t have any rooms made up.”

“I’m sure your staff can do that.” Uncle Elliot laughs.

“Fair enough. Lauren was complaining that we have so few rooms and so many people to clean them.” Cade lets Aunt Alora pull him in for a hug.

I turn my head to watch. She closes her eyes and hugs him, but Cade’s whole body is tense. When they break the embrace, Aunt Alora tries to step around him, but Cade blocks her path with a sidestep.

“Oh.” Aunt Alora’s face falls.

“Well, you’d have to assume, with Hugo’s demands at blood tests, that the girls know. We shouldn’t have believed it would stay safe with the crown.” Uncle Elliot sighs.

Hugo, as in Hugo Arcan, Revecca’s uncle? The family tree, while it apparently mixed up a few twigs and branches, isn’t something I’ve spent a ton of time getting to know. But I know his name, and I know his family is next in line behind Revecca for the throne. Well, behind Cade, that is.

Uncle Elliot gives me a soft smile while gently placing his hand on Aunt Alora’s shoulder, where her mating mark is.

I want to raise my hand and rest it on mine from Finn. But he’s not here. If he wanted me, he would be. Instead, I wrap my arms around myself and turn away from them completely, staring back out the window.

Through the door, I eye the railing of Cade’s balcony. It’s only one story. I wouldn’t even break a leg if I jumped in human form.

“I don’t think now is the time to discuss this,” Cade states firmly.

“Well,” Aunt Alora starts with a slightly scolding tone, but she’s cut short.

My best guess is that The Leviathan is looking back at them.

Aunt Alora sighs, and silence hangs in the air before three sets of footsteps move toward Cade’s office door.

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