Page 12 of Lady of Darkness
“If anyone tries to betray us, I will be the first to know.” He cocks his head as he peers at me from over the computer.
I snap my gaze to Sterling, who is watching me from the corner of the office. “So, what? We just move on knowing my father was working with the Crawfords, but not knowing why?”
Sterling pushes off from the wall, and I shrink back as he comes to stop a foot away from me. Looking up at him, I hate how sexy he looks when he’s all commanding and pissed off.
“There are a lot of people we’d like to kill, Harlow. Hundreds.Thousands.But we do not, because it would disrupt the order of the world. Charles may have been working with the Crawfords, but he paid the consequences of that betrayal with his life. Now, we move on, and deal with our real enemy.”
“You mean Acadia,” I say slowly. Theo grumbles something from behind his computer, but none of them answer me. Sterling walks back over to his desk, and Alaric and Gideon are looking at something on Gideon’s phone. “You know, you have to tell me eventually. Whether you like it or not, I am a part of this order.”
They all go still, and Alaric glares over at me. His black eyes are emotionless and cold. “Is that so? Because last time I checked, you were ready to do just about anything to get away from us.”
Touché.
I roll my bottom lip between my teeth, placing my palms underneath my bare thighs. I’m wearing jean shorts and a baggy t-shirt tonight. There’s supposed to be a heatwave tomorrow, and the weather is already hot and muggy. I can’t keep up with the English weather fluctuations in the summer.
“I just mean, withholding information from me isn’t going to help anyone. Maybe I can offer a fresh perspective,” I tell them, my voice perky.
I’m met with four identical scowls.
“We will begin to share information with you once we feel the time is right. Let’s get you trained, and then we can talk.”
I visibly sag, pouting. “Fine. But if they try to kidnap me or something, knowing more about them might be helpful.”
Theo snorts from his place at the desk. “You sure think highly of yourself, don’t you, little monster?”
Standing up, I walk back to the small classroom they have set up for me. “I don’t know how many times I can say I’m sorry before my tongue falls off,” I tell them all before heading back inside the dark room.
* * *
Around six,Sterling drops me off at home, driving off before I’m even inside.
They can’t stay mad at me forever.
I just have to remind myself of that.
I do regret what I did–mostly because I was caught, but that’s neither here nor there. Truly, I don’t know how I would’ve felt if they had died–if the poison had worked, and they had sacrificed themselves like that. What was my plan? Four dead bodies that weighed nearly twice as much as me… was I just going to light the place on fire and call it a day?
I ball my fists uncomfortably as I walk around the perimeter of Blackwell House. Pulling my phone out, I sigh and dial Gemma’s number. It’s time to tell her as much as I can–and to sort my life in New York. Just thinking about going back, after everything I’ve been through, seems strange. I’m a different person now, and going back to that life doesn’t quite feel right.
And neither does this life with four angry Lords.
“Oh my God, finally,” Gemma says quickly, speaking in a hushed tone. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you forover a week.”
I laugh. “I’m sorry. I’ve been… busy.”
I hear a door close on the other line. “I have so much to tell you.”
Smiling, I sit on one of the benches in the rose garden. “Me too.”
“Okay, you go first. Tell me everything.”
I take a deep breath. Here goes nothing… “Well… I met someone. And… I think I’m going to stay here. At least for a few months. Sort out my dad’s house. Figure out my life.”
She shrieks on the other end. “What! You met someone? Who is he? Is he a Duke?”
“No, but he is a Lord.”Just not the kind of Lord you’re used to…
“Oh my God. Okay, well, I am sad you’re not coming back. But wait, didn’t your dad have a wife and a kid?”
