Chapter 14 – Midnight Whispers

Chapter 14 – Midnight Whispers
RORY

The mansion was never truly silent.

Even at night, the air seemed to hum with the faintest sounds—distant footsteps, the soft creak of shifting wood, the occasional murmur of voices carried by the old halls. Most nights, I could drown them out. Tonight, I couldn’t.

I lay in bed staring at the ceiling, replaying the kiss like an idiot. Jace’s smirk. The way he’d said sunshine like he owned the word. My brain refused to shut up about it.

I threw off the blanket with a huff. I wasn’t going to sleep like this. Not with my head buzzing.

The clock on the dresser read 1:17 a.m. I’d learned by now that most of the house was quiet by this hour—except for the occasional night patrol from the guards. Which meant if I kept to the shadows, I could move around without anyone noticing.

I didn’t have a plan, not really. Just… a need to get out of my room. To breathe.

The hall was dim, moonlight spilling through tall windows at the far end. My bare feet made almost no sound on the polished wood floor. I moved slowly, pressing close to the wall whenever I heard the faintest noise.

That’s when I caught it—a voice. No, two voices.

I froze.

They were faint, coming from somewhere below me. I tilted my head, listening. The words were muffled, but the tone was sharp, clipped. Argument.

Curiosity burned hotter than caution.

I followed the sound toward the grand staircase, but halfway there, I noticed a narrow servant’s corridor tucked behind a heavy door. I slipped inside. The voices grew clearer with each step down the hidden stairs.

“…she doesn’t know yet,” a man’s voice said.

“She will,” another replied. Lower, smoother. I recognized that one instantly—Nikolai.

My breath caught.

“She can’t,” the first man said, more insistent now. “If she finds out—”

“She’ll find out when I decide,” Nikolai cut in.

I pressed closer to the wall, the stone cool against my palms.

“You’re playing a dangerous game,” the first voice said. I couldn’t place him. “The others are already… attached. It’s clouding judgment.”

A pause. Then Nikolai’s voice again, quiet but with an edge sharp enough to cut. “I know exactly what I’m doing. And if they’re getting attached, that’s their weakness. Not mine.”

My stomach tightened.

Attached? To me? No. That didn’t make sense. That wasn’t possible.

There was a scraping sound—like a chair being pushed back.

“You think you can control her,” the man said.

“I don’t think,” Nikolai replied. “I know.”

Silence stretched out for a few seconds before the low rumble of their voices started again, too faint to make out.

I should’ve left then. I should’ve turned and padded back up to my room, pretended I’d never heard any of it.

Instead, I leaned forward, straining to catch more.

That was my mistake.

Something cracked under my foot. A floorboard.

The voices stopped.

I froze.

There was a shuffle of movement below, then Nikolai’s voice—calm, but closer. “Who’s there?”

Panic shot through me. I spun and bolted up the narrow stairs, heart hammering against my ribs. I didn’t look back.

I burst into the main hall, darting behind a column just as the hidden door eased open.

Nikolai stepped out. Alone.

His eyes scanned the space slowly, like he could see in the shadows. My pulse thudded in my ears.

For a second, I thought he might actually walk toward me, but then he turned, heading in the opposite direction.

I didn’t move until I heard the distant sound of another door closing.

Only then did I creep back to my room, shutting the door softly and pressing my back against it. My breaths came shallow, quick.

What did he mean, she doesn’t know yet? What was I not supposed to know? And what was that about the others being… attached?

It was like the mansion had layers I hadn’t even started peeling back yet—and I’d just gotten a glimpse of something I wasn’t meant to see.

One thing was certain.

Nikolai would not want me overhearing those words.

And if he even suspected I had…

The thought made my stomach knot.

I slid into bed, but sleep was impossible now. My mind spun with the fragments of their conversation.

If I was smart, I’d keep my head down. Pretend I hadn’t heard a thing.

But I wasn’t sure I could.

Because for the first time since I’d been brought here, I realized something.

It wasn’t just me being played.

They were playing each other too.

And that might be the only advantage I’d get.