“Why do you care if I talk to him? Where is he?”
He merely watched me, expression inscrutable.
I sighed. “If I speak with him, I want your vow that you will join us.” I could take some father-daughter time if it meant we gained an ally as important as Garadiel.
He thought about it for a long moment. “If your father agrees that this is the correct course of action, I will join with you.”
That was more than I’d been expecting. “Fine. Where is the son of a bitch who abandoned me when I was still a fetus?”
Garadiel’s lips tightened and he leaned close, his face dark with barely suppressed rage. “In the same place he has been for three of your decades,your royal highness. Hidden away in darkness.”
* * *
DANICA
I slipped the ring into my mouth, my heart pounding as I pressed my ear against my door. Then I slowly inserted the key to my quarters into the lock. The ‘snick’ made me flinch, the sound so loud it felt like a gunshot in the quiet room.
If there was a guard in the hall, I was screwed. But I’d memorized their route. I should have fifteen seconds to get from here to the stairs. From there, I’d just need to be quiet.
I removed my slippers, unwilling to risk scuffing the stone. The floor was cool under my bare feet, and I hauled my dress up above my knees, ensuring I wouldn’t do something stupid like trip on it.
My father was alive.
And he hadn’t just abandoned me and never come to see me. He’d been taken out of the picture and shoved in a cell. I might have walked right past him while I was invisible and never known it. He may even have heard Lucifer threatening Keigan. May have seen me begging Kyla to remember that she wasn’t just a wolf.
My skin turned clammy. I didn’t know what I was hoping for. That he was an asshole who deserved to be locked up? Or that he was a good guy thatdidn’t?
I cracked the door open, peering through the gap. A bead of sweat slowly rolled down the back of my neck and I barely breathed.
Go.
Moving faster now, I pulled the door open wider and slipped through, before closing it soundlessly behind me.
My pulse thudded, but I forced myself to take the first step. I needed to haul ass if I was going to get to the stairs before the next guard walked down this hallway.
A shudder shook my body at the thought. Lucifer wasn’t playing around. He’d found the entire process of stealing my memoriesamusing, but it was clear he was no longer entertained. My death would likely keep him engaged for at least a few minutes.
Don’t think about that.
I wished I could talk to Samael. But it was only in dreams that I could hear his voice. Could bask in the feel of him.
I crept down the hall, barely breathing as I aimed for the stairs.
The thud of footsteps on stone. From behind me.
I froze. If I moved, I took the chance that I would make a sound. If I didn’t move, the guard would walk into me within the next thirty seconds.
My heart pounded so loudly I was half-convinced the guard could hear it. I trembled but forced myself to keep walking, gritting my teeth as the side of my gown brushed the wall. But the guard’s footsteps continued on with the same even thud, and I finally reached the stairs, letting out an almost silent breath.
The next part was easier. There were fewer guards on this level, and none in the servants’ quarters. The fresh air caressed my face as I stepped outside, and I inhaled the night breeze before striding toward the metal door.
This would be the trickiest part. I cut my hand and waited, trembling as I watched for the guards. I’d planned every second of my movements between my room and the dungeon, but if one of them left his post early or decided he needed to take a leak, he would for sure notice the door opening by itself. And I remembered exactly what had happened last time Lucifer had caught me in his dungeon.
But we needed Garadiel.
Breathe.
I sucked in a deep breath and paused, but there was no movement. Craning my head, I took in the windows above me. No curtains twitched. No guards stood poised to raise the alarm.
