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“What kind of situation?” I snapped, looking toward the guards. They didn’t seem on alert so much as deeply troubled and uncomfortable. If we were under some kind of attack, there would have been a much different energy about them… wouldn’tthere? I couldn’t get a proper read on anything that was going on, but I suspected it was because of what had just happened with Maren. I forced myself to get my head in the present game.
“I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what the hell this is about. It’s the middle of the damn night,” I barked. “You can’t just come into my chambers and make demands of me.”
“It’s really better if you see for yourself, Alpha,” Harman begged.
“I’m not getting dressed because one of you made a mistake that can wait until morning,” I said flatly. “Either tell me what’s going on, or?—”
“Someone is here that you must deal with,” Harman blurted out. “He was turned away at the gate by someone who didn’t recognize him in his current state and came to the cabinet… where I found him.”
My brow furrowed in confusion. “You’re not making any sense, Harman. Who came here? And are they here, or where are they?”
“He’s here now, Alpha,” the head of the Royal Guards explained, stepping in where Harman was failing. “He attempted to enter through the main gate, but when the guards blocked him, he went to the cabinet house instead.”
“Who?” I almost roared, sick of this guessing game. “Who are we talking about?”
Everyone in the hallway fell silent collectively now, as if none of them wanted to be responsible for saying it first.
“What’s going on, Nyx?” Maren called from behind me.
“I have no idea,” I snickered mirthlessly. “But you have two seconds to tell me what’s happening before I close this door, and I promise you, tomorrow you’ll face my wrath for this disturbance?—”
“King Lucius, Alpha,” Harman finally blurted out. “Your father is downstairs, awaiting your arrival in your study.”
Chapter 14
Maren
Ileaped out of bed the second that Nyx closed the door, shaking and conflicted.
“Did he just say what I think he said?” I gasped as Nyx walked past me like he was in a trance. “Your father is here?”
Nyx said nothing as he stalked to the changing room, his face pale, his mind clearly elsewhere. I hurried after him, grabbing my own silk robe from the accent chair as I moved. “Nyx!”
He still said nothing, as if he couldn’t hear me.
“NYX!”
“Not now, Maren,” he growled, and I stood in the doorway, gaping at him.
“Uh, yeah, now,” I countered, ambling forward as he scoured for an outfit. He ended up finding a mismatched shirt and a pair of pants, but I didn’t comment on his fashion choices. That was the last thing on my mind, anyway.
“Nyx, please, talk to me,” I begged him. He turned and stared at me blankly. “Is there any way that it could really be your father downstairs?” I pressed. “How? Why now?”
“That’s what others have been saying,” he intoned flatly.
My stomach dropped as I realized that this was not the first time he had heard news about his father being around.
“You knew that he was here? In Steelshire?” I asked in disbelief. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
He exhaled. “Because there was nothing to tell,” he explained impatiently. “There were rumors that he had been sighted among the caravan of warlocks, but when I checked, he wasn’t there.”
I barely understood how to process this information.
“Why would he come back now? Where has he been?” I cried.
“I know as much as you do at this point,” he told me, striding toward the door.
“Wait!” I called out. “Hang on. I’m coming with you.”
