Silas spread his hands.“Do you have the heart or not?”
“Nickelova’s heart is in a safe place.A safer place than this and nowhere near Nickelova.”
“Where is it?”
“In.A.Safe.Place.”He enunciated each word, blinking slowly.“That is the only explanation you need.If I told everyone who asked where it was, the place would no longer be safe now, would it?”
“You’re sure though?”Jason asked.
“I held it in my hands as recently as yesterday.The heart is safe.”Ryker tapped the pen harder against his leg.“It has not been returned to Nickelova’s chest.”
Silas lurched forward and grabbed Ryker by the collar.“You’re lying.Tell me where the heart is.”
Ryker’s eyes blazed with internal fire.
“Knock it off, Silas,” Jason said, tugging at his shoulder.“This isn’t necessary.”
Ryker wrapped his hand around Silas’s wrist.“Unhand me,” he said in a steady, calm tone.“I am not your enemy.”
There was something other than resistance burning in Ryker’s eyes.It was almost like… pity.Yes, pity.A chill rippled through Silas’s body.He released Ryker and backed away.“It was you, last night.”
“What was him?”Jason asked, looking between the two.
Ryker tilted his head to the side but said nothing.
Silas’s gaze roved around the room, coming to rest on a bit of red sticking out from one of the shelves.He pushed the clutter aside.A mask.A silky red mask, splattered with blood.It didn’t make sense.Soleil hated Ryker.She’d mentioned on multiple occasions how draining she found the incubus.
There was so much he wanted to say, but only one word came out of the fog of his befuddled brain.“Why?”
Ryker stood and opened the door to his office.“The heart is safe.Any other information you wish to know, you’ll have to find out somewhere else.As for last night…” He leveled a knowing look on Silas.“It is not my story to tell.”
Feeling dazed and confused, Silas allowed Jason to usher him from the office, past the line that had formed at the counter.
“What the hell was that all about?”Jason asked.“What happened last night?”
“Can you go check on Laina?”Silas asked Jason, handing him the keys.“Take the van.I need to follow up on something.”
“Seriously?You’re not going to tell me what’s going on?”
“Please.”
Jason nodded.“Fine.I’ll see you back at the hospital.”
Silas split from his brother in the darkening twilight and headed in the direction of the bordello.
Silas arrivedat Maison des Étoilles without any idea of what he intended to say.He only knew that he needed to confront Soleil.He needed to hear from her own lips why she’d come to him, trying to reconcile, only to do what she did with Ryker immediately afterward.He didn’t want her back.He had crossed that bridge and burned it behind him months ago.But there was more to this.Something was off about the situation.He felt it down to his soul.
“Mr.Flynn!Is Madam Soleil expecting you?”The fae holding the door wore a twinkling, gauzy black gown that looked like it was constructed out of the night itself.Her name was Astrial.Silas knew her well.
“No.Is she available?”
Astrial smiled sweetly.“We have strict instructions to show you back at any time.”She turned her body and gestured toward the hall.“I trust you remember where to find her.”
“I remember,” Silas murmured.
He strode down the dimly lit hall to Soleil’s room, remembering the many times he’d been here before.The door opened before he had a chance to knock, revealing the bright decor that seemed to magnify Soleil’s glow: a white marble floor, a bubbling fountain, walls of windows.The room was crowded with plants that thrived from the light she put off.
“Silas!”she said excitedly.She tossed her arms around his neck and pulled him into the warmth of the room.“Come in.I’m so glad you came.I was going to call you.”
