Chapter 200
Derek pushed open the door to Kira’s bedroom and stood at the threshold for a long moment, his eyes moving slowly over everything in the room. The space felt empty without her chaotic energy filling it, and the silence was practically mocking him.
As he stepped inside, a sudden, vivid memory flashed across his mind, cutting through his dark mood. He could almost see Kira clearly, standing right on top of the mattress, jumping up and down like a hyperactive toddler, completely off her rocker, wearing a headset and screaming the lyrics to Sweet but Psycho at the top of her lungs.
The memory pulled a low chuckle out of him as he walked further in, and her words from that day came drifting back.
It’s called de-stressing, Your Grace. Some people use music. You should try it sometime. Might help with that permanent stick you’ve got up your ar—
He smiled to himself, shaking his head as he stared at the empty bed.
“Psycho,” he murmured, his voice thick with a mixture of fondness and deep ache.
He moved through the room slowly, touching a few things as he went, his eyes drinking in every small trace of her. A scarf draped over a chair, a book left open on the table, the faint scent of jasmine still clinging to everything.
After a while, he passed through into the adjoining room, their matrimonial bedroom, and his eyes landed on the small velvet ring box still sitting on the dresser.
He had forgotten all about it. Swept under by two days of blood and panic and searching, the simple promise he had made her on the morning she left had slipped clean out of his head.
He shrugged off his jacket, picked up the little box, and lowered himself onto the edge of the bed. He flipped it open, drew out the wedding band, and turned it slowly between his fingers as he sat there, thinking.
Kira, he asked her silently, the way he had a hundred times these past days. Where are you? You need to come home. Come home and tell me those photographs are fake, that there’s an explanation, that I haven’t been a fool. Hell, forget the photographs. I just need you here. I need to know you’re alright. He swallowed. Leo misses you.
At the sound of her name in his thoughts, the beast inside him let out a sorrowful whimper, mourning in a way Derek had no words for.
He looked down at the ring, at the gemstone catching the light, lost in the weight of his own thoughts. And then something caught his eye.
Something that did not belong. A small wrongness, right at the heart of the stone, where there should only have been the clean fire of the gem.
His brows drew together, and he lifted the ring closer, squinting at it, tilting it toward the light.
There, hidden beneath the gemstone, tucked into the setting where no one would ever think to look, was a microscopic, high-tech black chip.
Derek shot to his feet, the box tumbling from his lap, his body going still and his heart dropping straight through the floor.
Back in Kai’s bedroom, Jessica had just finished narrating the entire story of how she and Kira had planned to drug the guards, put on a ridiculous disguise, and gone to that secluded restaurant just to meet Rolf’s Luna, Lydia.
“That doesn’t explain anything,” Kai said, his voice tight. “How could the two of you be so careless? That was a risky move to begin with! Drugging an entire security detail, Jessica? Do you hear yourself p>
“But Derek and Kira weren’t close back then,” Jessica protested. “Not like now. “She was desperate for answers about her family, and she honestly didn’t think the King would ever agree to let her see her stepmother p>
“Derek had always fucking compromised for Kira right from the very beginning!” Kai shot back. “He would have thrown a fit, yes, but he would have sent a proper army to protect her instead of letting you two run around like sitting ducks p>
Jessica’s heart began to pound frantically against her ribs, and hot, stinging tears welled up in her eyes. These weren’t tears because she wanted him to feel pity for her, or to make him soften. But because she had never, not once, seen Kai like this. Kai, who joked his way through everything, who grinned in the face of death itself.
For Kai to be this angry, this shaken, Jessica realised that they had landed themselves in a very, very serious problem.
“Do you even understand how this looks?” Kai went on, raking a hand through his hair. “You have been living in Dravengard for a while now, Jessica. You have seen firsthand how little the people in this region actually trust werewolves. They are looking for any excuse to call Kira a traitor p>
“Please,” Jessica whispered, “please don’t be angry with me, Kai. Please p>
“I’m not angry with you, damn it!” Kai snapped, then caught himself, his voice dropping, and his expression softening just a fraction when he saw her crying.
“I’m angry because I am completely powerless to control this situation right now! Hell, Derek can barely do anything to stop it either. Uncle Crane has him cornered. He’s threatening to take the whole matter straight to the high council to have Derek impeached over it p>
Jessica’s eyes widened in shock.
Kai took a deep breath. “If Derek refuses to cooperate or lock Kira up, this kingdom might be divided. We are talking about a civil war, Jessica p>
Jessica’s hands flew to her mouth. “Oh, goddess p>
“Yeah.” Kai exhaled heavily. “You could have just gone to Connor about it. Even if you both thought Derek would say no. Connor’s always had a soft spot for Kira. He’d have found a way to keep her safe and quiet. Instead p>
He broke off, shaking his head. “Did you even understand the risk you took? Meeting a woman as dangerous as Lydia, with no guard anywhere in sight? Anything could have happened to either of you p>
Jessica said nothing. There was nothing she could say.
Kai let out a long breath, and when he spoke again, his voice had changed.
“I need to get you out of Dravengard. Right now p>
Jessica looked up sharply. “What p>
“It’s the only way I can keep you safe for the moment.” His jaw tightened. “If Derek ever learns the full details of this, every part of it, he’s going to feel betrayed. Deeply betrayed. And you don’t want to be standing in front of him when that happens p>
He crossed the room to her and took hold of her shoulders.
“Listen to me. Someone has been feeding Rolf information from inside this palace. From inside Dravengard.” His eyes searched hers. “Now do you understand? Do you understand how damning these photographs are? For you, and for Kira? They make the two of you look exactly like the spies everyone already fears you are p>
Jessica nodded slowly, the horror of it sinking in.
“You should have seen Derek in that war council today,” Kai said quietly.
“He barely ever lets his emotions out, Jessica. He keeps them locked away so tight you’d think he had none at all. But when they finally break loose, it’s like a hurricane. It blinds him. It drags out a very dark side of him p>
He held her gaze. “And I don’t want you anywhere in his path when that happens p>
Tears slid down Jessica’s cheeks. She nodded again, and her voice came out small. “I understand p>
“And,” Kai added, and now he looked truly conflicted, the words clearly costing him something, “we’ll have to stop speaking to each other. For now p>
Jessica’s eyes went wide.
“Are you breaking up with me?” she asked.