Chapter 42 CAUGHT IN THE ACT
Ginnie
Who knocks at the door at this hour of the morning?
My fingers gripped the sheets as cold fear slid down my spine. My mind raced, grasping at different possibilities of who it was that I didn’t want to name.
Was it Varkos? No.
He wouldn’t knock at this time. He never would. Kenna? My stomach twisted painfully at the thought. Or worse—someone who already knew too much.
Without thinking twice, I swung my legs off the bed, my feet barely making a sound as they touched the floor. My nightgown clung to my skin as I tiptoed toward the door, each step heavier than the last.
“Who is there?” I started, my fingers brushing the doorknob. The door flew open before I could finish my words, two massive figures filled the doorway.
Lycan guards.
My breath caught so hard it felt like my lungs collapsed. They were huge, their broad shoulders stretching the fabric of their black uniforms with those cold and merciless eyes as they pierced into me.
Before I could react or even scream, both of them lunged forward. Their strong hands clamped around my arms.
“Hey—!” Panic ripped out of me instantly as I was shoved forward, my feet barely keeping up as they dragged me into the corridor. “What are you doing? Let go of me!”
“Shut the fuck up!” One of them barked, his grip tightening painfully around my arms.
“Where are you both taking me?” I gasped, struggling uselessly as fear exploded through my veins. “What the hell do you want from me?”
“Didn’t you hear him?” the other guard growled, his voice low and vicious, “Don’t make me repeat myself, little human.”
The hallway blurred as they hauled me along. My bare feet scraped the cold floor, my heart pounding so loudly I was sure they could hear it. Every door we passed felt like a deadline for how long I was going to remain alive.
Has someone in the villa found out about Varkos and me? My mind spiralled with different thoughts.
Fuck!
Maybe someone had seen me sneaking into my room last night? Had Varkos decided I was no longer worth keeping alive?
By the time I drifted off from my thoughts, we had turned a corner, then another. My stomach dropped the moment my eyes fell on the door I was being dragged into.
No.
God…not here of all places.
My steps slowed as they dragged me to a stop in front of a door I knew far too well.
Kenna’s room.
What did this evil bitch want from me now? What could I have possibly done this time that she doesn’t already hate me for?
Or worse—
Maybe she has found out?
The thought sent a fresh wave of panic crashing over me. If Kenna had found out about the nights and Varkos I had been spending together all this while, then I would have already been dead. She wouldn’t need guards. She’d tear me apart herself.
“Get inside!” One of the Lycans barked, shoving the door open.
I barely had time to recover from their painful grip on my arms before they shoved me hard. I crashed into the room, nearly losing my balance, the moment I stepped in, the door slammed shut behind me with a final, echoing thud.
I turned instantly, my breath coming in short, shaky gasps the moment my eyes met Kenna standing across the room.
She was already awake, dressed gorgeously as always, her long dark hair falling over her shoulders like a crown she never took off. The dim lighting of her room did nothing to soften her dark gaze the moment our eyes met. Her eyes lifted to mine, cold and calculating, a slow, dangerous calm settling over her face.
“M—my lady,” I stammered, forcing myself to bow my head slightly. “You… you wanted to see me?”
She didn’t answer, instead, she just stood there. My skin prickled under her gaze, as if she was peeling me open layer by layer with only her eyes.
“I…” I tried again, my voice trembling despite my effort to steady it. “May I ask why you asked to see me—“
Before I could finish my words, she brushed past me. Her shoulder slammed into mine deliberately, knocking the breath from my lungs which sent me stumbling a step sideways, shock and humiliation burning through me.
Kenna reached the table behind me and picked up a small black remote. She turned on the television and the screen flickered to life.
At first, I didn’t understand what I was seeing. An unclear camera footage, tinted slightly blue, clearly taken at night. Then I saw the most shocking thing my eyes couldn’t believe it.
Me.
Holy fuck!
My breath left my body in a silent scream as I watched myself sneak out of the villa, my movements cautious and tense, showing Kenna slipping into the forest—and moments later, me following her.
For a terrifying second, I couldn’t move. Neither could I think, nor even spare a breath. The room seemed to tilt as the realization crashed over me like a tidal wave. My mouth opened, every instinct screaming at me to lie, to deny it, to say anything—
Then the screen went black instantly as Kenna turned the television off. The click of it echoed like a gun being cocked which was going to be used to end my life.
“I-I can explain…“ I forced the words out, but it came out shaky, broken. “It isn’t what—“
She stepped closer before I could finish my lies, once. Twice. Until there was no inch of space left between us. Her presence swallowed me whole and I could feel the dangerous stillness in her posture.
I had to tilt my head back slightly to meet her eyes—and when I did, my stomach twisted. Her gaze was sharp, assessing me calmly and lethally, like a predator who had already decided how to kill its prey.
“It was you,” she hissed, her voice dripping to a low, dangerous whisper. “So you were the one who followed me into the forest last night…”
She leaned in just enough that I could feel her breath brush my cheek.
“…didn’t you?”