As I search, I zone out from the sounds of Raven, Aylesbury, and Bastian moving around the office. I read page after page on the Fae Council representatives, but none of it indicates she was ever different to how she is now. Which means Derren has been impersonating Summer a very long time or he has always been Summer.
I shift my focus back to my notepad and the words ‘silence is the key.’ I look up as a thought forms. I watch as Aylesbury straightens the desk they’ve assembled, then turns and looks directly at me, frowning.
“What?” he says.
“I think I’m looking at this all wrong. You remember my arch enemy from school, Silas? Could it really be that simple?” I ask him.
Bastian looks up from whatever it is he’s doing with Raven and joins us.
“Yeah, I remember her. If it hadn’t been for her treatment of you, you would have never believed that I’d betray you by also thinking like that. Can’t say I particularly liked the girl, but I have seen her around a few times over the years. You were talking to her at that masked ball when I was trying to get your attention,” Aylesbury replies.
“Why would you think someone named Silas is involved?” Bastian asks, wrinkling his brow.
“I don’t think Silas is involved, I think she’s the key Rozen is talking about. Her real name is Silence Winterborn. She was the only full-blooded Fae in my school, and other than me, the rest of the school was Human. I’m starting to find that just a little odd,” I reply.
“It’s not too far a stretch, but how is she the key?” Aylesbury asks me.
“That’s what we are going to find out. Unless you have any other ideas, I’m going to do a little digging into Silas’s life. I can’t say I ever made the effort to get to know her at school, so other than her making my life hell for a time, I know next to nothing about her and her background.”
I turn back to my computer and start typing away in the search engines, looking for any social media accounts she might have, or anything to indicate her whereabouts. I don’t fancy going back through the Vale anytime soon to track her down. Hopefully, I’ll find something about her here.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
After an hour of searching the interweb to no avail, I decide to pop upstairs to my apartment for a quick break. Bastian has slipped out at some point to hell knows where. He told me he wouldn’t be far away, not that I actually care. He is the one imposing on my freedom.
The door to my apartment is open, but when I enter everything looks to be in the right place. I move through to the bedroom and open the door to see Bastian bagging up the aftermath of the destruction he left. There are already a few sacks of debris tucked up against the back wall. What is left of any bedroom furniture I had is scattered over the floor, mainly in small pieces.
He’d really done a number on my bedroom. He looks up to see my shocked expression and rolls his eyes at me. I can’t believe he just did that.
“Don’t roll your eyes at me! You insufferable idiot! How did you think I’d react? I didn’t realize when you said you’d destroyed my bed you meant the total annihilation of an entire room.” I rant at him.
“What did you really think would happen when you let that Demon spell this room to smell like you’d had sex with him. I am not a calm rational man when I believe what’s mine has been taken away from me,” he replies, bagging up more of the debris.
He did have a point, even though I have absolutely no choice in the matter.
I sigh. I’m beginning to wonder whether we’ll ever really make this whole mating thing work out between us.
I’m about to open my mouth to say just that, when my house phone rings. I look around to see where the ring tone is coming from and find the phone on the floor under the few pieces of wood that were once my set of drawers. At least he hadn’t destroyed that as well.
Pick it up.
“Yes,” I answer.
“Seriously, Red, I’m not even going to mention your phone etiquette again. Get down here, I’ve found something,” Aylesbury says before cutting off the call.
I slam the phone down before racing back downstairs and into the office.
“Aylesbury, I was just upstairs, you could have shouted,” I tell him as I move behind his desk.
He sighs but doesn’t answer me, just turns the screen of his computer to face me. The picture on the screen is of Silas when she was really young, around seven or eight. Except there are three of her, all smiling for the camera. The siblings are almost identical except for their heights, which would put them at different ages, I think. She’s posing for the camera in front of a sprawling mansion. It’s a newspaper clipping, but there is no headline or names, and no article to go with it.
“Where did you find this?” I ask him.
“I still remember the user names and passwords for some of our ex-colleagues at The Guild.”
“Please tell me you didn’t just login to The Guild database? If they trace that back here, we are done for. They’ll not just revoke my license, they’ll arrest all of us.”
“Don’t worry, Red, I had Tony come in and do his computer magic weeks ago, so nothing can be traced back to us,” he tells me with a slightly exasperated tone. “So, I found this while researching the council. It was in a file designated newspaper clippings related to the council. Unfortunately, the file has thousands of clippings just like this, and they aren’t all related to the council members. They are related to any member of staff that has ever worked for, or with, the council.”
“So, you’re basically saying they could be in there for any number of reasons.” I sigh, slightly frustrated we’d found something, while not finding anything at all.
“Scarlet, Aylesbury has caught me up, so I thought I best mention there is a council party tonight at The Guild Hall. All council members will be there. You do know Bastian can attend this with you as his date,” Raven tells me.
I run to the bottom of the stairs and shout, “Bastian.”
After a few seconds, he pops his head over the railing at the top of the stairs. “What?”
“Why didn’t you tell me there was a council party tonight?”
“Because I didn’t know. I told you, I prefer not to have anything to do with all that political crap unless it directly involves my people,” he tells me, jogging down the stairs.
He pulls his phone out of his pocket and presses a number.
“Who are you calling?”
“My lawyers, to tell them we will be in attendance with an armed escort,” he replies, then shoos me away with his hand.
I move back into the office and ask Raven, “What do you wear to a council party?”
Standing in front of the mirror in Raven’s bedroom, I watch as she adds the finishing touches to my party outfit. She has let me borrow a long, sleeveless, fitted black dress that brushes the floor. Even I have to admit it looks good. I’m still in my Human form, and my dark hair is pinned up in a messy do that Raven assures me is all the rage amongst the people I’ll be meeting tonight.
I finish my make up off with a quick swish of lipstick as Raven puts the last pin in my hair. I have to admit I look good, even with my scars and various other wounds on show.
She takes a step back and catches my eye in the mirror. “Bastian is going to have a fit when he sees you, you look amazing.”
“I’m only dressed like this to blend in while I investigate. This isn’t a date,” I reply firmly.
Over the last few hours she kept forgetting the whole point of joining in tonight’s festivities is to see what we can find out about either the elusive Silas, or Derren masquerading as Summer. She smiles at me again then pulls a box out from under her bed. She opens it, nestled inside is an opal encased in gold and attached to a thick gold chain.
“I can’t borrow that, it looks way too expensive,” I say to her as she pulls the chain out of the box.
“Oh, it’s not mine, it’s yours. Bastian had it made for you out of the life stone. He found it when he found you and
brought it back, it is, after all, kind of a family heirloom.”
“Then why isn’t Bastian giving it to me,” I ask.
“He said if he gave it you, you would just find an excuse not to wear it,” she answers with a sardonic smile.
I can’t really argue with that logic, he is right, I would refuse. As she secures it around my neck, Quinn comes bounding through the door and stops when she sees me.
“Wow! You look great. Flats or heels?” she says, holding out two pairs of very similar strappy sandals.
“Flats,” I say, taking them from her. “Easier for running and fighting.”
“So, Quinn?” Raven says, smiling at me as I slip the shoes on.
“Don’t you dare ruin my night by mentioning earlier, Raven,” Quinn grumbles. “Swiftly changing the subject, Bastian is waiting for you upstairs.”
I grin at Raven and grab my phone, flipping it open to try Jared again, while moving out of the room and to the stairs. I have called him six times since I came back to get ready for this party and left him four messages, telling him where I am going, and what I am doing. I can only assume from his non-answer that he is on assignment, he had headed straight to The Guild after he’d left here earlier.
I shut the phone and leave it on Raven’s dressing table, the dress didn’t really have any places where I could secretly hide it in the folds of the material. I’m not taking a bag either, I want my hands free.
As I walk in the room I narrow my eyes as soon as they find Bastian. Did he really have to be that handsome in a suit? The jacket he wears does little to hide his impressive frame, which only makes him more attractive. He doesn’t wear a tie like the others, just a crisp white shirt that is open at the throat. I narrow my eyes further. I will not let him know I like this look on him.
Jessica, Steve, and Cain are also dressed in suits and ties, I assume this is because they are attending as security.
Bastian has noticed my entrance but remains where he is, discussing something quietly with Jessica. I raise a brow at him and his lips twitch at the corner. I roll my eyes at him as Watts and Harris walk in.
I quickly sidle up closer to Cain and Steve, and whisper to Cain. “Which one is which?”
They obviously hear me, as they both smile, and come straight over.
“I’m Watts and that’s Harris,” says the female, still grinning, she puts out her hand for me to shake.
“Nice to meet you,” I say, shaking her hand then Harris’s.
“Watts and Harris are the Manor’s pack enforcers,” Cain tells me.
“And that is?” I ask.
“Think of it this way, in Human society the Guardians would be the secret service, or the FBI, our enforcers are more like the police force.”
“Ah,” I say. Makes sense but it just shows how little I know of the Lycan society.
Bastian finally finishes talking with Jessica and they all move over to join us.
“Cain and Jessica, you will be Scarlet’s security for the night, you will remain no further than a few feet away at all times. If you can’t hear what she is saying, you’re too far away. The rest of you are to make up the wider circle around her, check for threats, and watch the area. She must remain in your sight at all times,” Bastian orders.
“You’re going a little bit overboard, don’t you think?” I say to him.
“Let’s not have this argument again, wench.”
I sigh but let him have this one. “Who’s guarding Rozen if these five are coming with us?” I say, instead of arguing.
“Dante and Quinn. Hopefully, it’ll give them time to sort their shit out,” Bastian says.
He inclines his head and the others start to move towards the stairs. I move to follow, but he grabs my arm, stopping me. I look back at him and he leans in and says, “I will enjoy watching you tonight, knowing that when we come back here, I’m going to make you mine.”
His breath tickles my ear and as he pulls away and releases my arm I see his eyes have turned black. I walk towards the stairs, and when I reach them, I turn to him, shrug my shoulders, and say, “Okay,” before heading down the stairs, leaving him standing there with his mouth open.
Chapter Thirty
When I exit the Manor, there are three vehicles waiting for us. One is some kind of new sports car, the other two are the Pack trucks. A few seconds later, Bastian emerges behind me, and with a hand on my back, escorts me to the sports car. He opens the door and I try to gracefully slide in to the seat, but the dress doesn’t afford enough movement to bend how I need to, so I just heave myself into the car unceremoniously.
I catch Bastian chuckling to himself as he moves around to get in the driver’s seat. As he sits, I narrow my eyes at him until the grin fades from his face. He starts the engine, then turns to me, fingering the chain at my throat, he smiles, then speeds off down the gravel drive.
The Guild Hall is in the more upper-class part of the city, further away from The Guild building I used to work in. This hall is purely for functions. Luckily, I have been in there a few times, so I know most of the layout before we get there.
“What’s the plan?” Bastian asks me, his eyes on the road.
“If I see Silas, I’m going to get her on her own and ask her some questions. I’m not quite sure what I’ll do if this Summer is there. I’ll see how that pans out, if it happens. Don’t make a direct beeline for Summer if she is there, let her come to us. If she’s this Derren, then I guarantee she will.”
“That’s not really much of a plan,” Bastian grumbles.
“We have next to no information at all, so until we do, we can only gather information. But we’ve got to do it without giving the game away. If that’s even possible,” I tell him.
I spend the rest of the drive playing out possible scenarios in my head. Chance encounters with Summer, and what I could possibly say to draw her out if she is a shape changer. So far, I haven’t come up with anything other than an outright confrontation.
I barely notice pulling up in front of the hall. Bastian’s door shutting jolts me out of my thought process. I see the red carpet’s out and behind ropes is an undulating sea of reporters, waiting to get that perfect shot that will hit tomorrow’s headlines.
I start to push open the door when Bastian wrenches it out of my hand, throwing it wide, and offering a hand to help me out of the car. I take it purely because of the disaster getting in the car, I really wouldn’t want to become the next internet sensation by making an idiot of myself getting out of a car.
Once I slide out of the car, Bastian tucks my hand under his arm and we begin to walk down the carpet. Cain and Jessica follow closely behind us, and I see Steve, Watts, and Harris have already spread out in front of us, forming a small barrier between us and the reporters.
Cameras flash and the odd reporter braves shouting out questions to The Beast Master, Bastian’s face remains stoic. Within seconds, we are at the doors and they are pulled open for us.
Bastian moves us through the entrance hallway and reception rooms into what is classed as the grand ballroom. They don’t put on a show like the Fae do, they have merely turned on the crystal chandeliers and added fancy table decorations to the meagre seating areas. A small dance area is sectioned off near a low stage that holds a quartet of singers, crooning old songs while swaying their hips to the beat.
Bastian stops us at the edge of the dance floor, then pulls me into his arms, and starts to lead me along the floor.
“I’m not here to dance,” I tell him, looking into his deep blue eyes.
“You might not be here to dance, but while I get to hold you close and think of all the things I’d like to do to you later, you can watch the people around us whilst not looking suspicious,” he whispers, bending down, so I can feel his breath along my neck.
“Is everything really about sex with you? In fact, don’t answer that, at least part of what you said is actually useful.”
The music swiftly changes to a slower beat, so I rest
my head against his shoulder. From this position, and the way Bastian steers us around the floor, I can see the whole room without craning my neck and making it obvious.
Cain and Jessica are stationed along the dance floor’s edge, the way they are standing tells me this isn’t the first time they’ve played the security detail game. Around the room, I can spot many undercover security details, none seem as excessive as Bastian’s
I notice a few council members and a couple of celebrities, but out of the few hundred people in attendance, I only recognize a small handful. That is purely because Raven had thrust a glossy magazine in front of my face, in hopes of bringing me up to date on the lifestyles of the rich and famous.
I notice a middle-aged man walking over to us, and I spin Bastian so he can see who it is. As the male approaches, Bastian stops us, and I step away, instantly missing his warmth.
“Bastian Night. It’s not often we see you attend these shindigs.”
As the man addresses Bastian I can’t help noticing the tremble in his hand.
Bastian pins him with a lethal look when he turns his attention to me and grabs a hold of my hand to shake it.
“I’m Kevin, I currently hold the Human seat on the Guild Council. And who might you be, my dear?”
I pull my hand out of his sweaty palm and open my mouth to answer as Bastian beats me to it.
“My wife. Scarlet. Don’t touch her again,” he growls.
“Apologies for my husband, Kevin. It’s a pleasure to meet you, I’m Scarlet,” I say, trying to defuse the sudden tension. I have a feeling the real reason Bastian doesn’t attend the council meetings is because he is likely to rip their heads off every time they open their mouths.
“No, Scarlet, the pleasure’s all mine.” I hear Bastian mutter the word ‘sycophant’ under his breath, but Kevin doesn’t hear it as he continues to blabber on. “It’s nice to see the Lycan king has married a Human. I’d love to hear your thoughts on some of the issues brought up by the council recently, Bastian.”
Sacrifice Page 17
