Page 40 of Hound

Spiteful temptation snaked my veins. That Man deserved no more than to burn to the ground—to be left to suffer like he had done to our mother. Yet, decisions hailing from resentfulness would not result in my upper hand. It would further entangle myself—and Alek with his matter against Kaleb—and ultimately ruin Anabella.

I couldn’t do such a thing to my only friend, the only companion that has stuck to my side.

Until Lorenzo.

A sharp pain sliced my chest at a dim thought deep in my mind.

There must be another way.

“If I may, I can assist?—”

She halted, an elusive presence sharpening as it crept up the staircase and drew near, the familiarity settling in the air.

“You may pay me a visit in my chamber during midday.”

Sonia’s lips parted, yet no words left her as she bowed and vanished like a wisp of air through the separate staircase, descending to the first floor. A second later, a knock vibrated against the library’s second floor entrance.

Tristan’s broad stature obscured my view as I opened the door. After a brief greeting, he mentioned, “Alek is currently visiting the cemetery, but he should be finishing up soon. Should he meet you here again?”

“No.” I glanced behind me with straightened shoulders, the space stretching out of reach. “He can visit me in my chamber.”

With Tristan’s swift dismissal, my body tried to motion forward. I remained in place. A force pulled my gaze onto the access door within the ceiling at the end of the spiral staircase.

“Search through the pages until something catches your eyes,” my voice rang beside my ears as if I had spoken.

“Why?”Alek had bit out, the familiar feelings of that day resurfacing.

The fourth oldest was silent and forbearing, an attribute that Noah regarded as a bore and Kaleb took as a challenge. In truth, all continued to bear the same qualities from childhood, in particular Noah and Kaleb with their continuous intensity and disarrayed selves. However, Alek had proved me wrong with his sudden resistance.

And the further the conversation went, the more astounded I had grown.

“You are undoubtedly digging your own grave, Alek.”Anabella’s voice had coated my words.

“You were the one that forced the shovel into my hands,”he had said with more force, his mask shedding like a snake’sskin. “We’re allies. If questions are left unanswered, then this agreement is off, and we’ll all be dealt with by the Ministry.”

“Sit.”

He had followed my order without qualms, his expression muddling when I uncovered the note marked in blue ink.

“What is this?”

“An anonymous message. It was placed in my study, resting above that piece of work. Whoever it was knew the book was in my possession.”The rigidness from such discovery continued to line my muscles.

Alek, for the first time since our ally ship, had hesitated. “Why did you keep it?”

The stale taste of lies I had wished to counter remained on my tongue, the bare truth a knot burrowing in my throat.“Mother left behind many unsettled matters. One being a note, instructing me to keep the scripture. In the beginning, I did so in hopes it held hints of her passing. And while this new note proves that, its critical timing carries more than suspected.”

The household's resounding silence echoed Alek’s words.

“How exactly can I help you, then?”

“Skim through the book.”

My chamber enclosed me, but the broken record of Alek’s careful movements immersed my state. He had studied the scripture with such mystery, glanced at the history our mother taught us in our youth with awareness, childish drawings overshadowing the pages.

Dread had sunk to the pit of my stomach when Alek retrieved our mothers note—and apprehension thickly coated my flesh as my gaze trailed to the items on my desk.

“What is it?” I had alarmingly asked. As a response, he’d handed me the page he pulled from the pocketed sheets with contents I least expected.“These are all books.”

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