My father’s sandalwood and yew scent spikes between us. A warning.
Saints, I want to scream at the top of my lungs that Andrew Radcliffe is a Soldier, that he has been since the first time he held a scribe to my throat. That he’s marked with an evil, ancient hex and controlling omegas with blood magic.
I don’t. I act like the omega heiress my father expects me to be. “I certainly wouldn’t know anything about that. But he’s an upstanding alpha. Ask anyone around campus. He’s the captain of our lacrosse team and so well liked. I don’t see how he could possibly be tied to such a vile organization. But again, I’m in no position to be privy to such matters. What would an omega know about things like that?”
More than she’s letting on. The detective inspector’s voice whispers in my mind as my father squeezes my knee so hard, I whimper.
“Are you all right, Miss Rose?”
“You must excuse me. I am deeply troubled by last night’s events. It all happened so fast, and I can scarcely separate what happened from the nightmares that terrorized me last night. I’m afraid I’ll be no help to you, Detective Inspector.”
Saints, how will I put this bastard away if my eyewitness won’t tell me the truth?
I look up sharply but show the detective inspector my neck when my father shoots me a look of warning.
“May I please be excused?”
The detective inspector sighs. “Please, at least take my card. In case you think of anything else.”
He slides it across the desk toward me, but I don’t take it. Instead, I desperately try to memorize his phone number.
“I’m quite sure I won’t,” I tell him.
My father sees me out and hisses his displeasure at me as soon as we’re out of earshot. “You’ve spoken to the police about the Radcliffe boy? Are you absent your senses? You jeopardize everything I’ve worked toward.”
I duck my head. “This was before I knew of the alliance you were seeking to forge between our families. I’ve been on better behavior since then. But Father, he tried to rape me. I was so frightened, and I promised you I’d stay pure…”
He grunts out an acceptance of my lie. “Return to your cottage. I’ll summon you if I need to speak with you before your siblings and I return home. And remember, daughter, you are here at Fairhaven only as long as you deserve to be.”
As long as I follow his stipulations.
As long as I let him use me as a pawn in his diabolical games.
As soon as Marcus and I cross the threshold of the omega resident wards, I punch the detective inspector’s phone number into my cell.
>
I call Luca directly afterward and he picks up on the second ring.
“Saints above, princess,” he growls. “I’ve been so fucking worried.”
“I’m sorry. I would have called sooner. Last night was… it was a lot, and I was summoned in front of a royal detective inspector first thing this morning. I’ll tell you about all of it when I see you. But I need a favor.”
“Name it,” he swears, the relief in his voice so great it chokes me up.
“I know Quill & Clover is closed today, but do you have keys? I need somewhere safe and private to meet with a detective inspector. And I need a ride my father can’t trace.”
I don’t dare suggest Marcus take me into town in my father’s town car. Knowing what I know now about cameras and listening devices, I’m sure the car must have some sort of tracker. Saints, I’ve been so stupid and irresponsible…
“Done. Name the time.”
I end the call to find a response to my text.
>
* * *
Luca takesme into his arms the moment I step across the wards on the bridge. He buries his nose in my hair, his scent spiking as he feels down my arms, down my back, finding me uninjured. “Thank the saints,” he breathes. “I was so fucking worried. Princess, what’s going on? What’s all this about a detective inspector??”
