Chapter 28 Chapter 28
LENORE
I was losing my mind.
I had to be.
I mean, what exactly was I—were we—doing?
What would have happened if the King hadn’t summoned him? Would we really have… Oh my God.
I ran my hands over my face and took a deep breath, trying not to think of how he’d kissed me and how his hands had moved over me. I failed.
Taking another deep breath, I got to my feet, only to sit back down the next moment. I was restless and half of it stemmed from the fact that I couldn’t fathom why the vampire prince would want me while the other half was because he’d said we were going to pick it up where we left off.
It made both unease and anticipation roll under my skin.
Someone knocked, snapping me out of my thoughts, before they spoke. “My Lady?” It was Fabien.
“Yeah?!” My voice came out a bit high-pitched and I snapped my mouth shut, clearing my throat.
“If you need me, I’m in the study. It’s the room opposite yours.”
“...Okay.”
Less than a moment later, I heard the sound of a door opening and closing before remembering he’d said something about the summon not being a civil one to Killian. What did he mean by that? Were Killian and the King having issues? …Oh God, I hope it isn’t because of me.
I knew it was quite a leap to think that, but I couldn’t help it. I already knew he was going to be pissed if he found out Killian was being sweet to me seeing as he gifted me to him, so…
Shit. I haven’t called home.
I shot to my feet. I’d been trying to get a phone to call them because I knew they—well, the people that actually cared about me—would be worried about not being able to reach me when the last thing they’d heard from me was bad news. But I’d forgotten about that after the rogue attack and decided kissing the prince was more important.
Shit.
I quickly headed for the door, wanting to get a phone from Fabien, but before I opened it, I paused and glanced down at my chest. Heat blossomed in my neck and I swallowed before fixing my bra. Then I headed out of the room and crossed the hallway.
Fabien’s ‘pardon my interruption’ from earlier came back to mind as I stopped in front of the study, and I could almost feel myself withering. Fucking vampires and their super hearing. How much did he hear before knocking? I mean, no one says ‘pardon my interruption’ unless they know they’re interrupting something. If he smirked at me or… I don’t know, waggled his eyebrows, I was going to sink into the fucking floor.
I raised my fist, but before I could knock, the door opened. “Hi,” I blurted at the same time he said, “My Lady?”
“Do you need something?” he added, raising his brows slightly. He looked like he had already forgotten or just didn’t care about what he could have possibly heard in the bedroom, and I felt a bit silly for thinking he would waggle his eyebrows. He didn’t even seem like the type of person to do that.
“Yes, um…” I shook my head sideways, clearing my mind, before glancing past him into the study for a moment. “Yes, I need a phone. I need to call—”
There was a knock on the suite’s main door and I glanced down the hallway while Fabien slid past me.
“Excuse me a moment,” he said, heading down the hallway to open the door.
A man I didn’t recognize was on the other side and they spoke in a hushed but urgent tone for a couple of seconds before Fabien glanced at me over his shoulder. He looked confused and a little bit distressed.
I shifted from one foot to the other. What’s happening?
Fabien returned his attention to the man and said something else before walking back to me. It wasn’t just a little bit of distress on his face now. “My Lady—”
“Please just call me Lenore.”
He blinked at me, a line appearing between his brows, before he continued, “I really need to go check something right now,” he said while my gaze bounced from him to the man in the doorway and back to him.
“Is everything okay?”
“That’s what I need to go make sure of. There are guards at the door; you can tell them if you need something. You can also use the bell-pull system in the room and a maid will be here in minutes. I have to go now.”
“Okay, okay.”
He returned to the stranger and the moment the door was shut, I let out a harsh breath. Then I realized I still didn’t get a phone and groaned before staring into the study, deciding to check if there was one there. Slowly, I walked into the room, glancing around.
The room smelled like cinnamon and citrus—the same scent that always followed Killian. Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves lined the walls, packed with leather-bound books, and there were couches around a glass table on the right side of the room. In the center, there was a heavy, dark wood desk, and the first thing that caught my eye on it was a framed picture of Killian and a woman who I didn’t know, but strongly felt was Killian’s mother.
I tilted my head.
I had no idea where the certainty came from or why she felt familiar, and as I reached out to pick up the picture, the suite’s main door opened.
I paused. Only one word came to mind at the thought of who it could be, and my body thrummed anew with unease and anticipation as I turned to face the study’s doorway, waiting for him to step into sight.
But it wasn’t Killian.
It wasn’t anyone I would have expected.
“Oh, thank God!” Cameron burst out the moment he saw me. He lowered the stake in his hand, and rushed over, wrapping his arms around me while my brain struggled to process his presence.
“Cameron…” I breathed just before he pulled back to stare at me, his eyes scanning me.
“Are you—Are you okay? Did he do anything to you?” He sounded scared, but the only thing running through my mind right now was confusion.
“What… what are you… how are you here?”
Cameron’s jaw clenched and his grip on my shoulder tightened. “We’re leaving. Now.”