Page 99 of Queen of the Crimson Throne

“I’m coming.” I quickly adjusted myself before making my way to the door, halting when I found not only Lennox at the other side of the door, but Luciana as well. Perhaps I should have put clothes on. Having Luciana see me in nothing but my undershorts wasn’t what I had beenanticipating.

The witch raised a perfectly arched brow as she scanned me. “Is this how you greet everyone who arrives at your door?”

“It’s how I greet guests who knock on my door in the middle of the night.” Lennox avoided my gaze, looking at the door frame instead. Besides training, I hadn’t seen her since I about came in my pants after putting socks on her feet.

“I found something,” Luce continued.

“And it couldn’t wait until morning?”

“I was under the impression time was of the essence. Or am I misinformed.” She rapped her nails against the door frame.

“Fine. I’ll get dressed and meet you all in my study. Unless this is so urgent I don’t have time to get dressed.”

“Put some clothes on, princeling. Lennox might enjoy seeing so much of you but the rest of us have no interest.”

Lennox’s mouth fell open, but before she could say anything Luciana gripped her wrist and pulled her down the hall. “Enough of this, let’s go.”

I smiled after them for a moment before returning to my room to get changed.

Several minutes later we were all gathered in my study, all but Luciana looking like they’d rather be back in bed sleeping. She had even managed to transport Kara back from Alethens for thisspecialmidnight meeting.

“Alright Lucy, what was so important you had to wake us all in the middle of the night? And not in a good way.” The witch glared at Nico.

“I found something.” She took the halves of the book from her bag. I shuttered at the presence it evoked. Even I could sense its power, it raked down my skin like invisible claws.

“Nothing I’ve translated so far has been of any use, but I did manage to translate a name.” She flipped through the pages until she came to the one she wanted.

She pointed to the symbol on the page. “Galtain.”

“Galtain,” I repeated.

“Does the name ring any bells?” Lennox asked.

“No.” I scrubbed my hand over the back of my neck. “But I might know how to find out.”

Sneaking into my grandfather’s office was a stupid fucking idea.

A stupid fucking idea that I shouldn’t have even brought up in the first place.

But once I brought it up to Lennox, there was no going back.

My grandfather possessed the Populus, the book containing all of the families who ever lived in the Blood Court and where they resided along with their family tree. He prided himself on keeping it update and maintaining the Blood Court’s rich history. If we could get access to the Populus we could look for the Galtain family and see if it could help us figure out how they were related to Hecate’s book.

However, my grandfather was out of town for the next week. After much debate it was decided we would sneak into his office to search for the Populus instead of waiting until he came back. I floated the idea of sending him a letter asking for permission, but Luce’s argument won out. We needed the information sooner rather than later with mine and Lennox’s wedding date quickly approaching.

So we were breaking into my grandfather’s office, which would be fairly easy, there was only one obstacle standing in our way: Lorenzo.

Which is where Luciana came in.

Luciana was going to occupy Lorenzo for as long as she could by playing the role of a visiting heir over lunch. Lorenzo loved “taking the place” of my grandfather while he was away. He was overjoyed to find outhegot to host our visitor.

The moment Lorenzo left the dining room, Luciana would let us know through the crystal Lennox wore around her neck.

I stood behind Lennox as she painted a symbol using her blood on the door of my grandfather’s office, a spell Luciana had taught her last night to unlock doors.

Her blood hissed on the door before disappearing in a mist as Lennox whispered the spell under her breath.

“Here goes nothing,” Lennox muttered. Her hand twisted the knob. It clicked faintly before opening.

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