Red

Getting off the phone with Cordelia, Annabeth grabbed the baseball bat hanging around by the wall and swung it in the air as if she was testing her skills. I bought the cinnamon scented candles up to my nose and sniffed on them.

Sweet.

As per Jayla's demands, we had been given a room inside the mansion itself to keep us on the inside rather than the outside. The way she convinced Dillion was remarkable and it just told me that the old man may have powers, strength and skills but he could still be easily manipulated by a female.

Not that I planned on doing.

The room was shared between me and Anna. It was close to the quarters of where the servants lived at. The head of that department was another woman that we still had to meet but as it was too late, Dillion let us go to get rest and only awaken when the sun was up.

It was a large room with two twin beds close by. Dark painted walls, high ceiling, chandelier dropping from the roof, and a bathroom attached. Finally. I was able to breathe easily in the room.

"What did Cordelia say?" I asked, hurrying to my sister and grabbing the bat off her hands before she swung it on my head and gave me a concussion of a lifetime. I had been more careful about my life ever since I had gotten it back.

"Nothing. She was telling me the few spots inside the house." The bed bounced as Anna sat on it and opened the laptop that she bought with herself. "Something tells me that Dillion and Cordelia had an affair and he might've cheated on her or left her for another woman." She added, while her fingers pushed down to the keyboard, typing out random letters.

My hand slid to the mattress and I sat as well. "The affair part, I know but I don't think so Dillion cheated. I don't see another woman around here." I replied.

Anna lifted her head from her laptop. "Maybe he's just hiding her." She gave me a little wink before I started hearing the continuous taps of the keyboard.

"I'm going to go get some water and maybe linger around as everyone is asleep." I pushed my blonde hair into a tight ponytail and wore my shoes before leaving the room.

It had been a few hours and we had gotten a lot of food earlier. It was the greatest buffet I had after starving for days and by midnight, my stomach was making unusual noises, forcing me to get off the bed and walk around.

I walked in the absolute silence, my footsteps perfected, barely letting out any noise. I dragged my hands through the bricked walls but didn't scrape my fingernails through them. The paintings hung on the walls were somewhat terrifying, they were all different, unrecognizable faces and places.

The chandeliers were low-lit, brightening up the night inside the mansion. I crossed past the seating area on the second floor and the black piano that didn't make a sound. According to Jayla, it was the pack's packhouse but only for the high-ranking wolves such as the male and female Alpha, the Beta, and the few warriors. The people around here called the house a chateau, including Jayla who dropped us and then left.

I walked into away from the hallways and into the open library at the east wing as per Cordelia's demands. The library was rather small compared to the one we had back at the castle. There were only a few hundred books, placed on the wall, next to each other, all in a wooden shelf. There was a blue, whimsical couches placed across and a large, clear square table with seats beside them.

The cold gripped me when I walked in. My eyes flickered to the windows that were pulled open, letting the stormy weather of England in. There was only a single golden light shining and beyond that, I saw a man, seated on one of the couches.

I couldn't make out his face as his back faced me. Leaning by the door, I carefully studied him and found him reading a book in the darkness. My heartbeat quickened and I continued to watch even when I was panicking from the inside.

Stalking people wasn't what Cordelia wanted but again, secrets were only disclosed to people and usually hidden inside libraries.

I glanced away from a moment, my insides feeling uneasy as a ripple of anxiety went through me.

I swallowed back a scream as a warm hand clasped over my mouth, and another one snaking through my body, feeling me. It took me a second—just a second before I turned my head and forgot how to breath.

The surprise tugged at my heart, and the air felt suddenly thick and suffocating. My limbs trembled, shaking with bewilderment as I met with the eyes of my love.

Luciano. 

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