The shadows were intrigued, slipping past the door unbidden while I contemplated what to do.
At best, no one would be down there, and I could come back up and pretend it’d never happened. At worst…
The shadows pulled the door open wider, revealing a set of clean stairs.
Clean because they were used often.
My chest squeezed just slightly as I made my decision. I carefully stepped down thesilentstairs, and as I mapped out the home in my mind, I figured this room had to be right beneath the living room and kitchen. Almost where the thump from earlier–
A cold sweat drifted down my spine, and as my feet hit the bottom of the stairs, I froze.
There, in one corner of the room, was a bed.
With an occupant.
A black man, with his hair braided back in neat cornrows.
Although his eyes were dark, he was a spitting image of Zephyr.
“Holy fuck,” I murmured.
This was it. This was the secret.
Levi Aria wasalive.
I almost couldn’t believe it, except I was looking right at him. He appeared just as shocked to see me. He was braced as if he’d been about to stand, but then frozen at the sight of me.
The strange thump during dinner suddenly made sense. Aiden had looked away quickly because he knew. He knew about Levi, and he’d committed to keeping it a secret.
But…why?
I opened my mouth to speak, but then Levi’s gaze jumped to myshoulder, and I whirled around to face the threat, surprised the shadows hadn’t reacted.
Oh. It was Zephyr.
And he waspissed.
“We’ll talk about this later,” he growled, then shouldered past me.
“Another storm?” Levi asked, his voice deep. He sounded just like his son. I’d have confused the two if I hadn’t watched Levi as he spoke.
“Yeah,” Zephyr replied. “It’s bad.”
“Is Aiden back?” Levi asked. He hadn’t moved to help Zephyr, remaining in the bed.
Thehospitalbed.
For the first time since entering the basement, my eyes really took in the scene. Levi was in a hospital bed, surrounded by medical equipment, hooked up to a bunch of wires.
This was…
I didn’t quite understand what was going on yet, but my brain caught on Aiden’s name.
“You know Aiden?” I asked, dumbfounded. I figured Aidenknew ofLevi, not that they’dmet–
“Not now, you Royal fuck!” Zephyr snapped, shoving sandbags at me. “This is exactly how Skye got caught, there was a storm just like this. Help us before she reacts!”
“That girl is always causing trouble,” Levi sighed.
