Page 83 of The Thief
Scarlett took the letter from his hand and unfolded it, opening it with shaky hands. Alastair held up his hand to silence her, stopping her from reading it yet.
“Everyone inside,” he said, motioning for everyone to come inside the small room.
The last person in shut the door behind them, locking it securely before turning back to Scarlett and Alastair.
“For some sort of secrecy,” he said with a shrug.
She nodded with a small smile and began to read.
Rhys, I have every faith that you can get this task completed for me, which is why I am entrusting it to you. However, you must charge just when the time is right and not before that, or you’ll ruin all my carefully laid plans. Rest assured that I will reward you handsomely should you succeed, but the punishment will be severe should you fail. Do not fail me. Yours, MIB.”
She folded up the letter and looked at Alastair, worry in her eyes.
“I do not think this is over yet,” she whispered.
He took her hand in his and swore, “I promise I will make sure you make it through this.”
The determination in his eyes made her feel more secure, but fear lingered in her heart. They were all surprised when a loud knock came at the door. Alastair strode over to the door and unlocked it, opening it to find Bard there.
“What is it, Bard?” he asked.
Bard motioned for him to come into the hall and he did, wondering what was going on.
“My Lord, the antidote; it’s all gone. They were all destroyed by someone.” He stopped for a moment to catch his breath, then continued.
“I went to your study to leave some letters for you that had arrived, and I found the broken bottles on the floor.”
Alastair’s heart dropped and his stomach turned.
“Did they get all the bottles in the left-hand drawer?” he asked.
Bard nodded.
“What about the right? There was one in the right-hand drawer,” he whispered.
“Only the left drawer was disturbed, sir,” he replied, relief filling Alastair’s heart.
“How did they get past the guards?” he asked.
Bard shrugged. “I don’t know, My Lord.”
“Thank you, Bard. Go up to my office and make sure nothing else gets disturbed. I will not be but a few minutes.”
He nodded and took off, heading back to Alastair’s office to guard the precious little antidote they had left.
“What was that about?” Scarlett asked, coming out of the bedroom.
“Do not worry excessively, but we have only one bottle of antidote still left,” he whispered, shushing her when she became hysterical.
He grabbed her hands and called her, reminding her that he would keep her safe.
“Someone broke into my study and found all but one bottle, and destroyed them. Brigid is close to completing more of it, and Malachite Expanse has the mineral it needs that we can pull it right out of the ground should it come to that. But it will not.”
He leaned in and kissed her softly, breaking the kiss and resting his forehead against hers.
“Ronald and Ragan will escort you to your room and watch over you there. I will send our mothers up to keep you company. And Melody as well.”
He pressed a kiss to her forehead and called out to Ronald and Ragan, letting them know what their duties were.
