A sparkle of blue on one of the stairs…
I stilled as I caught sight of one pale blue shoe. A female’s shoe with sparkles and gems I’d seen before. On Trinity. I grabbed it up, held it. Why the fuck wasn’t it on Trinity’s foot? If it had fallen off, surely she would have paused to put it back on. It was dainty and had a heel that was pointed and unstable—how females moved in such tools of torture I had no idea—so it would be awkward for her to walk in just one.
Unless… I whipped my head around, frantic. I wanted to shout her name, to make the music stop and everyone to stand still so the space could be searched. She wasn’t here. I knew it. I felt it. She wouldn’t have left a fucking shoe otherwise.
Was the assassin here? Had he made a move at last?
Trinity knew she was not supposed to leave the ballroom unattended. The only reason I had agreed to bring her back to Alera and attempt her mad scheme of acting as bait for th
e assassin was because she had given me her word she would be careful. Take no unnecessary risks.
The gardens. Would she have been taken that way? Into the maze where it was easy to get lost? No, they would be caught within the shrubbery. They needed an escape, perhaps around the sides of the garden to a vehicle? Or out in the city?
As I headed to the nearest garden entry, I heard commotion. Not from the ballroom, but from a side hallway situated on the lower floor of the palace. The structure was large, with a host of hallways, tunnels and covered drives that led into various areas of the palace. I stormed through the open door and into the hall.
A gathering of well-dressed servants was murmuring together, no merriment or laughter on their faces, despite the music playing behind them and the array of food and beverage scattered throughout the smaller hall. Seemed the nobles weren’t the only ones celebrating the return of the royal family.
“The princess,” I said, stopping hastily in front of them.
“Captain—my lord—apologies, I don’t know how to address you.”
“Leo will do.”
“Yes, my lord… Leo,” he bowed slightly and I shifted on my feet. I didn’t give a fuck about titles or status. I just needed to find my mate. Thankfully, he continued before I had to beat the information from him. “The princess was with another guard. She didn’t say anything beyond a simple greeting, but she looked unhappy.”
An older female spoke. “She was walking strangely, with a large limp, and being pulled along by a very tight grip on her elbow.”
I held the only clue I had in my hand, the sparkling blue shoe, and they stared at it.
Another in the group stepped forward and held out his hand. “After she was gone, we found this by the door.” In his grip was the matching shoe.
I took it from him. My mate was leaving a trail for me to follow, although I didn’t know what she could remove next. “Did she ask for help, or say anything to you as she passed?”
The first man shook his head. “No, my lord.”
“Another guard?” I asked. “You’re sure?”
All of them nodded. There was no doubt among them. But the assassin, Vennix, wasn’t a guard, unless he had used one of the royal uniforms as a disguise to gain entry, to gain Trinity’s trust.
But that would not work either. She’d seen his face in the initial attack. He’d been standing over her, ready to kill her. As much as the thought pained me, I was quite sure that male’s face would be branded in her memory forever. So who had taken her?
“Which way did they go?”
“Farther into the palace, up the grand stairway.”
I looked in that direction. Up those stairs were the hallways that led to the royal family’s private chambers. Why would anyone take Trinity farther inside the palace?
Unless…
I left them and found several guards stationed outside the ballroom. These two I knew by sight. “The princess has been taken.” The words were like acid on my tongue. I’d failed my mate, allowed danger to come to her. “Where is my father?”
My father stepped forward immediately. “I’m right here. I heard the news. What do you need?”
“I need that fucking consort who tried to seduce my mate. And I need him right now.”
My father frowned, clearly confused. Out of all the possible things I could request, a consort was not high on the list.
“The consort? For what purpose?” That voice was deep. Curt. All too fucking familiar. And evil.