He nods, and his attention catches on a stray leaf that flits by in the breeze.
Shit, what if I lose him? No one can see him. He could literally be lost FOREVER.
“You’ll stay right here, right?”
“What?” His head lifts, fiery eyes catching mine. It’s like I can literally hear theJeopardytheme song playing behind those very vacant eyes of his. The ghost of Alex Trebek is about to buzzer him any minute now.
“Stay here,” I finally mutter before rushing off toward the side entrance once more. The cold gold handle against my palm opens the door with ease. It’s silent, and I suddenly realize I’m concealed within a short corridor before showing the expanse of the Great Hall to the left and a smotheringly dark staircase to my right. Ivy’s soft laughter trickles in from the intimately lit dining hall.
I evade the candlelit room. Instead, I take the steps two at a time to avoid being seen by not only Ivy, but possibly the king as well.
The stairs come to a landing in a balcony area that I’ve never been in. Several tables and chairs sit in the dark, alone and forgotten. But the gold railing ahead showcases the Great Hall below.
My sister and Benton whisper in the dark just near the door. Ahead, a single table sits at the center of the sprawling room. Two chairs are adorned with golden plates before them. A single candle with a dancing flame alights the white tablecloth.
Leavon sits there.
But he’s not alone.
Ruiner shadows over the table, making it look like a dollhouse setting beneath his looming build.
“What do you mean, you don’t know where the girl hails from? I’m tired of playing games with you! She was spotted with you! Are you lying, Ruiner Beaufort?” Leavon stands slowly, his fingertips tense against the tablecloth as he lifts to his slender height.
“Never, My King,” Ruiner says on that deep, humming voice of his.
I sink down low then, spying between golden bars at the two men staring one another down. Ruiner could break the king with his brooding strength.
But Leavon’s magic alone could kill Ruiner. I know it. Ruiner knows it. Everyone in this twisted kingdom knows it.
I still hear gossip of what he did to the Dragon King before him decades ago. That gossip alone instills fear in men as strong as Ruin.
So why would Leavon care at all about the whispers of a woman of great darkness? He doesn’t need more power.
A fist slams to the table, and the shining china there clatters in fear.
“Take me to her!”
“I don’t know where she is, My King.”
“That’s a lie. And lucky for you, I do.”
“You do?” The color drains from Ruin’s handsome face.
“I have more spies in this kingdom than the American world has in their fancy Eff Bee Eye,” he enunciates strangely.
“God, I hope everyone starts saying it that way,” I whisper to myself.
The two of them storm out of view, and I hear his words as he speaks intimately with my sister.
“Business calls, Lovely. But I do hope you enjoy the dinner tonight with your friend.”
“Oh,” Ivy says.
And then the door slams. Ivy and Benton wander into the center of the room, making eyes at one another even as he pulls her white velvet chair out for her.
There’s literally no reason for me to stay. Aside from hiding from the king himself, who’s probably raiding my room as we speak. Was that his plan all along? To get Ivy out for an hour or so to search our things. Not that I have things to search. I consider the table that’s set for two. Not three.
And why would he invite Benton at all?