“Why does he need to be replaced?” I asked with suspicion. “Except for the fact that he’s MIA when we need him?”
“Because you’re going to kill him before the week’s out. Look, I don’t know where the staff is. They’re paid to be there.”
“Do you have an address we can use to find at least one of them and ask why no one was here to help our beloved while she was being beaten half to death?” Ko’s voice was the darkness at the bottom of a deep well.
Silence for three heartbeats.
“Your bride is your beloved?” Sebastian murmured.
“I would have led with asking about her being beaten,” I scoffed, “but yes. Miracle of miracles, right?”
“I think you better start at the beginning and tell me everything,” he said with an edge in his tone.
“First, tell us about the security situation,” Cas demanded.
“We left the modern stuff for you to handle since you’re the experts in surveillance gear,” he admitted, “but the whole manor is layered in wards. Top to bottom and five feet out. Dad and I did them ourselves shortly after buying the place. A mouse can’t scamper across your pantry without you knowing it.”
“Are you thinking of the right place?” I asked with a frown. “We’re atEvermere—”
“I know where you’re at! We bought it just for you three! Wait.” He let out an exasperated sigh. “You dumbasses! Did youactivatethe wards?”
I nearly dropped Ko’s phone. Cas stood frozen, his green eyes begging me to shoot him. Ko’s mouth dropped open, like he wanted me to stick my gun in there after shooting Cas.
And me? I didn’t let my mortification show. Not yet. For now, I just kept smiling, kept joking, kept pretending like everything was fine. Because that’s what I did.
“You wouldn’t understand,dumbass, since you don’t have a beloved yet,” I sneered. “The moment you do? Yeah, you’ll learnreal quickwhat matters when she’s dying at your feet.”
12. Pang of Disappointment
Casimir
We slipped into Seri’s room at dawn the next morning, Zane hovering at the door and Koa peering over his shoulder like two restless predators circling a den.
Her chest rose and fell in a shallow rhythm beneath the duvet, pale fingers curled around its edge. Brumous lifted his shaggy head from the footboard, eyes tracking our movements with far more perception than a normal wolf possessed. Maybe some of his dire intelligence lingered, after all.
“Shoo, animal!” I whisper-hissed at him, earning a low growl.
“She’sstillout?” Zane whined. “Damn! I was hoping she’d be awake.”
“Quiet, pest.” Ko elbowed him. “Let her sleep. She needs it.”
I didn’t argue. They were right; Seri needed rest more than anything else, but that didn’t stop a pang of disappointment from settling in my chest. I wanted to see her eyes, hear her voice again, even if it was just a few words.
“Later,” I said, more to myself than to them. “She’ll be up later.”
Retreating to the hallway, Ko’s shoulder bumped mine as he craned for a final glimpse before I pulled the door mostly shut, leaving it open a sliver in case that animal needed out.
“Two hours,” I said. “Then we check again.”
“Three,” Ko negotiated. “She needs three. She’s exhausted.”
“Three,” Zane and I agreed in sync.
As we went downstairs, several people in smart black uniforms were swarming the place like termites discovering rotten wood. One woman was cleaning windows. Another by the front door arranged calla lilies in a vase large enough to hide weapons.
We’d heard the first of several vehicles approaching about thirty minutes ago. Z and I had weaponed up and stood guard at Seri’s door while Ko drifted down the stairs as silently as a ghost. We’d heard doors open and close a few times, and he’d returned to report that our missing staff seemed to have decided to earn their pay.
I didn’t trust that one bit.
