My father and the Crusader froze before turning to face me. My father looked fearful, his eyes wide as he adjusted his tie. The Crusader seemed a little irritated, but then in awe, like witnessing the shadows was some amazing privilege.
“Rafe?”
“Oh, there you are,” I said lightly, revealing myself. My heart pounded, and I was so pissed that my palms were growing sweaty, but I offered an easy grin. “Your previous meeting went late?”
Alejandro cleared his throat, looking confused, but the Crusader had narrowed his freaky pale eyes at me. They were too light, too void of color. They didn’t match the rest of his face.
“How much did you hear?” the Crusader asked.
I snorted. “Your family problems don’t interest me.”
He narrowed his eyes even further. “Family problems?”
“Yeah?” I said, tilting my head. “Wife throwing fits, teenager not doing as he’s told?”
The Crusader and Alejandro shared a look, then Alejandro looked back at me with renewed confidence.
“I’m sorry the meeting ran late. We had a lot to discuss.”
I shrugged, then glanced down the nearest hall, and my heart leapt. The stupid bald tapestry was at the end, meaning my father’s office was close, meaning I could get the fuck out of here soon.
“Well, now that he’s free…” The Crusader looked at my father again, and they seemed to be having a silent conversation.
Wait a minute.
Theywerehaving a silent conversation.
Fuck. I was nosy on a normal day, but I’d never wished for stronger telepathy than I did in this moment. If only Skye were here–
Actually, scratch that. Skye being here was a bad idea, especially since this fucker was looking for her. As much as I wanted to watch her kill again, this would not be a good time.
“Don’t you have to be at the academy soon?” I asked, distracting them as I slowly began to creep toward the tapestry.
“How do you know that?” Alejandro asked sharply.
I rolled my eyes. “Wyatt.”
Alejandro stiffened, and the Crusader noticed.
“That’s the pretty boy?” he asked.
I snorted, then grimaced. God, Wyatt was going to break every bone in my body, then heal them, then break them all over again.
“Anyway,” I said, deciding not to answer the question. I was nearly to my bald ancestor. Just a few more steps and then I could make like Skye, and run the fuck out of here. “This has been fun, but I have to go.”
“So soon?” Alejandro asked. “The meeting didn’t run that late–”
I snorted again. “It did. It’sfour. I met with mother for over an hour and you still weren’t done with this…meeting.”
“My apologies,” the Crusader said. “We had a lot of catching up to do.”
“Sure,” I said, continuing my journey to the tapestry. Was this hallway getting longer? I began plotting ways to level the place and rebuild it once it became mine.
“Well then, say hello to your Key for me.” Alejandro said.
I stopped in my tracks, stared at him for a moment, then shook my head.Not worth it,I told a shadow on my shoulder. I didn’t have time to kill my father, cover it up, and get to Wyatt in time to drop him off at his father’s, so I kept walking.
“No,” I said finally. “I won’t be doing that.”
