“Or not,” she smirked.
“If you think that was an accident,” Aidon said, reaching for another knife, “you underestimate me.Thatwas a warning.”
Another knock sounded at the door, this one riddled with impatience. “I know you’re in there!” A young man’s voice called out.
Aidon paused. The words themselves could easily be a threat, but the tone was more irritated than anything else. He watched as Dauphine’s face softened.
She pushed herself off the wall, nodding at the knife in his hands.
“Bring the knife if it’ll make you feel better. But if you stab my little brother, I will suffocate you so slowly, you’ll beg for death.”
She left Aidon standing there, a confused frown on his face as he watched her stride through the living room.
He followed, but he kept a healthy distance as Dauphine opened the door. A man with messy red hair stood on the threshold, his aquiline nose scrunching in annoyance as he took in Dauphine. He was a head shorter than her, but it was easy to see their shared features.
Their curly hair. Their oval eyes. Their proud chins.
“You have a key,” Dauphine said by way of greeting.
“Lost it,” the boy grumbled as he shouldered past her. His gaze skipped across the room to Aidon, darkening as he registered the knife in his hand.
“To what do I owe the pleasure, dear brother of mine?” Dauphine asked, drawing her brother’s attention back to her.
“I’m not here to see you,” he bit out.
“Oh?”
“This is still my house, isn’t it?” He looked between Dauphine and Aidon, a sneer pulling at his young face as he glanced at his sister’s shirt. “Or has it become another one of your many illicit businesses?” To Aidon, he said, “Did she at least pay you for the pleasure of your company?”
“Luc,” Dauphine scolded. But Aidon’s brows rose, amusement pulling at the corners of his mouth.
“You know,” he remarked, placing the knife down on the credenza beside him, “that’s the second time today someone has mistaken me for a courtesan.” He winked at Dauphine. “I’m flattered.”
Her brother scoffed, his eyes rolling toward the Beyond as he turned and stomped up the stairs. Aidon quirked a brow at Dauphine, but she was already following Luc.
“Of course it’s still your house,” she called after him.
Aidon fell into step behind her. The boy may not be a threat, but he would be damned if he left Dauphine unmonitored with someone he did not know. But with the way Luc was throwing open drawers in one of the bedrooms, his movements thunderous, Aidon was willing to bet he had no idea that this was a safe house.
Aidon paused in the doorway, watching as he rifled through clothes. He held up a shirt to inspect it with a critical eye. Deeming it acceptable, he balled it up and shoved it into the satchel Aidon hadn’t noticed at his shoulder.
“Do you need money?” Dauphine asked as she hoveredjust inside the room. There was a small furrow between her brows as she watched him pick up a worn pair of trousers and stuff them in the bag as well.
The boy’s shoulders tensed, a muscle in his jaw working as he kept his gaze averted from his sister. “No.”
Dauphine took another step closer to her brother. “You’re still getting what I send to the—”
“I’ve told you before,” he snapped as he whirled to face her, “I don’t want your blood money!”
Dauphine bristled. “But the clothes are fine, are they? You do realize they were bought with the same—”
“They’re not for me!” he cut her off as he slammed one of the drawers shut so hard, it rattled the vase of flowers on top of it. “Not everyone’s sole care is for themselves.”
Aidon watched as Dauphine flinched.
“Luc…”
He ignored her, shoving past them both and jogging down the stairs. Dauphine didn’t spare Aidon a glance as she followed him, her voice rising as she called after him.
