CIAN
I watched Fia leave and shut the door behind her. The latch clicked softly. For a moment, the room was silent except for the faint sound of her footsteps retreating down the hall.
I turned back to Valentine.
He stood there with that same knowing smile. Like he held all the cards and was simply waiting for me to realize it.
Madeline had moved closer to her father. She was looking at him with something between confusion and alarm.
"Father," she said quietly. "What are you doing?"
Valentine didn't look at her. His eyes stayed on me.
I moved around the desk slowly. I kept my hands loose at my sides. My wolf was restless beneath my skin. It didn't like this. Didn't trust it.
But if Gabriel was really alive, if he really had been imprisoned under Aldric's estate all this time, then I needed him. I needed his testimony. His knowledge. Whatever secrets he had buried with him when Aldric locked him away.
