Chapter 10: A SPY AMONGST US

Florence

I sat still, staring at the empty dining table. Even after the maid had long since cleared the dishes, I still sat, staring at the emptiness of the mahogany table and watching as the light above reflected off it.

I sat there only for a few moments until, suddenly, I heard a ruckus coming from the living room.

“She’s my friend!” That was Annabelle’s signature voice.

“Annabelle,” someone else spoke up, “maybe we should just leave. We don’t want to disturb her.”

“Are you kidding me?”

There was a brief moment of silence, followed by Annabelle stomping over someone.

“Ma’am, please, you can’t go in there!” It was the maid from earlier, her voice breaking as she tried to intervene.

“I’m afraid I can’t help you,” she said, “but I’m going to find her myself.”

“Anna!”

I decided to step out of my hiding place just in time to stop Annabelle, who I knew was seconds away from causing a scene. Sylvester only looked as though he was more interested in keeping her from making one. I forced a smile and raised my hands as they began coming closer.

“See? I told you,” Annabelle said. “She’s back home.”

Lamade rushed in front of me and grabbed my hands.

“Please, rest,” she said. “I believe it will do you good.”

Her hand reached for my shoulder, but I brushed it off.

“I’m fine,” I said, glancing around. “Sleeping around in my bed isn’t going to fix anything, just as much as trying to be overly enthusiastic about everything.”

It was all futile, I thought to myself.

“She’s been resting for three weeks. Get off her case,” Annabelle said, practically sidestepping the poor maid and coming to stand beside me, holding my hand.

“At least you should be able to go out and get some air, you know? Touch some grass.”

I could practically hear the eye-roll in Annabelle’s voice.

“But the Alpha—” the maid began, her eyebrows scrunched together and her face just inches from crying.

“—isn’t here,” I interrupted. “I’m just going to be in the garden. Literally, I’m just going to be there. You can keep an eye on me if you want.”

Slowly, the maid nodded and eventually stepped back, retreating from my presence. Finally,

Annabelle grabbed my hand. “What? Were you thinking she wasn’t going to let you leave? I was also thinking she’d be that uptight and stiff, but she’s something else, isn’t she?”

Sylvester chipped in, “I mean, I understand she’s worried about you, but come on.”

Annabelle turned around and glared at Sylvester. “Why are you getting lippy with me about this?”

Sylvester shrugged. “I’m just saying you keep talking about things that should simply be forgotten and let go of.”

“Are you kidding me?” Sylvester howled. “She was attacked! She could have died! And maybe, just maybe, that’s the Alpha’s child inside her! Whether or not you can get it through your thick skull, being cautious is not overreacting. At least she’s your friend—our friend!”

I sighed. “I’m fine,” I said, deciding it was the best time to step in between the two of them.

Part of me didn’t want them discussing this out loud, but I couldn’t blame either of them. At the same time, I couldn’t blame myself either. It was the first time I’d had anyone look out for me like this. Was I shocked? Yes. Was I happy? Maybe. But a part of me didn’t know how to respond to this, so I was simply left to stand there, staring at them as they bickered about me.

“Enough,” I said. “And I don’t want to talk about this.”

Both Sylvester and Annabelle stared at me with twin expressions of confusion. Eventually, Annabelle huffed.

“See?” she said. “Let’s go. I get the feeling that the creepy maid is watching us.”

I chuckled, allowing myself to be pulled by the arm and led deeper into the garden, where we eventually plopped onto a bench.

“You have no idea how boring it’s been without you back at the academy,” Sylvester huffed, leaning back against the stone bench. “Some people have nothing better to do than bully Annabelle, though she’s mostly the one fending them off.”

I raised an eyebrow toward Sylvester.

“Oh no, I’m not joking,” he said. “It’s crazy. The entire thing is crazy. And then there’s your cousin.”

I frowned. “What does she have to do with any of this?”

“She’s been a little more frequent.”

My heart rose in my chest. Immediately, the sound of my heart thumping loudly filled my ears as I tried to watch him carefully.

“It’s nothing to worry about,” Sylvester said, waving it off.

He probably is here to start trouble. And it’s also cool to know how far he’d really go. I think someone said something about an exchange or something? As a form of, I don’t know, alliance or something?” Annabelle waved me off.

“Either way,” she continued, “you don’t have to worry about her bullying you or anything.”

She cleared her throat for theatrics.

“Why? Because I and him, even though he is mildly adequate, are here for you. Oh, and, um, the principal  said you’re supposed to come back soon. He said he had a letter from the Alpha stating that you’re going to go back to the academy in the next couple of days. So, we’re here to help you catch up.”

I watched as Annabelle reached for her sling-on bag. She pulled out her tablet and began swiping across it.

“Mostly just history,” she said. “Every other thing has been put on hold. I think it was something about the Alpha calling a council meeting or something, but I don’t know.”

“Sylvie.”

I heard Sylvester flinch more than I saw him do so. It was a strange nickname Annabelle had come up with, and needless to say, it made him sound like a girl.

“I’m not Sylvie,” he said, “and my name is Sylvester.”

“Yeah, whatever.” She waved him off, barely batting an eye at Sylvester’s obvious anger.

“Your dad’s on the council. Did you ask him what the Alpha was talking about? Did you ask him whether or not it could, you know, affect everybody? What is this whole thing about?”

Sylvester shrugged. “I don’t know,” he said. “Only a few things Father mentioned in passing.”

“Like what?”

Annabelle leaned in with an obvious look of interest in her eyes, one that I knew I was beginning to mirror.

“Oh, it was mostly just about the Alpha and what he found out about the attack on her.” Sylvester pointed to me.

“Well?” Annabelle asked, practically going to eat the words out of his mouth.

“They said they found something about, you know, what happened. And that there’s a chance it could mean war.”

Of course, I thought to myself. Scouting such a terrible thing in Leonardo’s territory meant war. Alpha Scott could not escape such a fate. He did, after all, bring it upon himself.

“But that’s not the main problem,” Sylvester continued. “They said there must have been a spy working with him. And that’s the only way the spy would have been able to enter the academy, especially at such a time. And then, of course, there were the killings. They say someone definitely worked with him on the inside.”

I could hear Annabelle suck in a sideways breath, while I simply opened my mouth in shock.