Kayla I pulled the chair closer to the table and sat down across from Grace, trying to appear as non-threatening as possible. She looked even more fragile up close, her hollow cheeks and sunken eyes making her seem far older than she probably was. Her wrists were still bound, resting limply on the
Fair enough. With that, I turned on my heel and carried everything back to Grace. When I re-entered the room, Grace’s eyes widened slightly at the sight of all the items in my arms. I set them down on the table in front of her. Then, I walked over to her and held up the key to her handcuffs. “May
Kayla Grace stared down at the table, her hands clasped tightly together in front of her. She almost seemed to tremble a little as she tried to gather her courage. I remained silent, giving her the opportunity to speak when she was ready. In the corridor outside, Noah and Nicholas were eerily si
I stared at Grace in silence, unsure what to make of all of this. I barely knew Grace, and I especially didn’t know her mother. Nor did I know Nicholas’s mother. For all I knew, this was just a bunch of poppycock. “Your mother,” I said carefully, “do you think I could talk to her? Hear it from her
Kayla I blinked at Nicholas, unsure if I had just heard him correctly. “You want to break her out?” I whispered, grabbing his arm and pulling him away from the interrogation room door, out of Grace’s earshot. “Are you insane?” Noah looked like he was about to burst. “She’s a guild prisoner, Ni
By the time we pulled into the driveway, the windows to the house were glowing warmly with amber lighting, and fragrant smoke billowed out of the chimney. Nicholas killed the engine, and I climbed off, pulling my helmet free and shaking out my hair. It felt… wrong to come back to this cozy, spacio
Kayla I stood frozen in the hallway as Nora disappeared around the corner. Despite myself, despite every wall I had worked so hard to keep up, my hands trembled slightly around the tray. Why did I feel so… hurt? Shaking my head, I turned away and headed back down to the kitchen without even br
Emma glanced at me sideways with a knowing smile playing on her lips. “Why the sudden interest?” “No reason,” I said quickly, perhaps a little too quickly. “Just curiosity, that’s all.” “Uh-huh,” she teased, nudging me lightly with her elbow. “Well, for what it’s worth, I think Nicholas has his
I ripped the compass bracelet from my wrist, holding it high. “Is this what you want?!” I shouted. “Come take it!”The attack paused. Even Isabella halted, looking to her cohorts for guidance. The compass dangled from my fingers, swinging enticingly.“No, Kayla! Don’t give it to them!” Nicholas mana
My hand moved instinctively to my wrist, feeling the cold metal of the bracelet against my skin.“And of course,” my father added, his gaze hardening as it settled on Nicholas, “you’ll be free of this… playboy. No more confusion, no more manipulation. You’ll be where you belong—with your real family
KaylaIt wasn’t William’s presence that shook me to my core, but my father’s.Two years. For two years, I’d sat by his bedside, holding his limp hand, begging him to wake up, to move, to give me any sign he was still there. And now he walked in as if the bodily damage he’d suffered from his coma had
Once we were safely beyond earshot, I filled Nicholas in on Henry’s message as we made our way toward the old barn at the edge of the estate. Henry was waiting for us outside as we approached, and his face was grim.“He’s inside,” he said without preamble. “You’re going to want to see this for yours
KaylaNicholas stayed for dinner that night, although not for no reason. Henry was still out there somewhere, searching for the person who knocked me unconscious and took my mother’s journal, and we needed to be close in case he captured the fucker.Furthermore, we couldn’t leave my father. Not when
“A journal?” Nicholas’s expression sharpened with interest.I nodded. “I only read a few entries before… before I was knocked out. But Nicholas, she knew about Luporath. She knew where it was.”His breath caught. “Are you sure?”“Positive.” I held my wrist up, exposing the compass charm bracelet I’d
KaylaOnce Nicholas and I were alone, truly alone—we’d ensured that the basement was empty, Mindlinked Henry to quietly check the estate grounds for intruders without alerting my father, then hurried upstairs to my bedroom and closed and locked the door—I turned to him. My head was still throbbing f
And yet, somehow, I knew… It was hers.I followed the scent down the hallway, down the grand staircase, through the foyer. The scent grew stronger as I approached a door I hadn’t noticed before, partially hidden in the shadow of the stairwell.The basement.I wrenched the door open and descended the
NicholasI straightened my tie one final time as I approached the podium. The guild hall was packed with members from various packs, all eager to hear what the candidates for chairman had to say. The position William had left vacant in the wake of his timely escape—from which he had still not return