Page 91 of Guardian

“I lost track of Katerina,” he said through sharp breaths. “I searched everywhere across the grounds and found no trace of her or Lorenzo.”

A resounding anger possessed me, the chilling panic flooding my body. “When did you lose contact with her?”

“After she entered Sonia’s office,” he said, his forehead gleaming with sweat. “She hadn’t discovered the notebook yet, and once I finished my search across the inner gate, she stopped responding.”

“And Lorenzo?”

“It’s why I’m here.” He analyzed the crowd. “Sonia sent him for coverage at the last minute.”

“And you believe he might know of Katerina’s whereabouts?”

“Of course,” Tristan responded as he began scouring through the sea of heads, the music now transcending and shifting into the second dance. Similar to the pairs that parted the dancefloor, the three of us split.

I stumbled upon Christopher, who spoke to the eldest daughter of the Níng family, Ai, her sky-blue gown bright against tawny skin. Fen, the second eldest, and Yan, the third eldest, sported a vivid amber gown that parted them from Ai, yet they all shared the same parted charcoal mane that cascaded over their shoulders. The fourth youngest, Liu, was nowhere in sight, but Lorenzo came into view. He stood close to Christopher, his eyes scanning the staircases.

I pulled Raphael aside. “Keep an eye on Kaleb and Davina.”

“Gia’s already helping with that,” Raphael said and nodded, both of us parting into polar sides of the horde. Tristan reached Christopher and Lorenzo just as I did, Tristan pulling Lorenzo away as my brother’s gaze fell on me. We excused ourselves from the Níng family, Christopher’s eyes widening.

“What’s happened?” He asked through gritted teeth.

“Katerina vanished. Tristan thought it best to question her cousin.”

“Why?”

The truth couldn’t be omitted any further.

“We believe Lorenzo’s the intruder.”

Christopher straightened his shoulders. “What significance does that hold?”

“He attacked Katerina during our hospital visitation in October,” I said and bit my tongue before I could say more without Katerina’s permission.

“What?” Lorenzo growled. He towered before us, his large, bronze eyes deepening into charcoal. His hands sprawled from fists, and his nails lengthened. Christopher immediately stepped to his side and placed a hand on his, lowering it out of view.

Lorenzo shut his eyes as his nostrils flared with an exhale. “You think I could hurt my cousin? Myblood? She’s the only family I have fucking left!”

“Then why are you here and she isn’t?” I spat.

His eyes widened with fury. “Sonia sent me.”

“She never misses an event,” Tristan muttered. “How can we believe that?”

“She gave me a note,” Lorenzo bit back, bringing forth a piece of paper from his pocket.

“A note?” Christopher slipped. Both of our faces fell as Tristan unfolded it.

The writing was one ingrained in my mind, firm from yesterday’s revision with Christopher.

It all came to a full circle.

Lorenzo was never the intruder; the evidence was painted that way to make him at fault. Kaleb entrusted Sonia with his notebook, entrusting her with more— such as playing the role of the intruder in the scheme. The incident within the hospital was their doing, Kaleb seeking to break Katerina in other ways than one.

He’s done this countless times before, yet never to such imprudent lengths.

Our mother’s clues pointed directly to a keeper who was scattered across the households’ grounds, always in the shadows— she had been the very entity that was still until called upon.

Why had Sonia done it all? What was the reason behind the notes she left for us to discover? How had she gone unnoticed beneath our noses for this long?

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