Zeller’s smile turned into a laugh.
“What?”
“You.”
“Me?”
“I can’t believe you just said all this amazing stuff, about the zinnias, and Decoy—about crawling across glass for me—after not talking about anythingrealfor a month.”
“My omega, I thought I was protecting you.” Valentin shrugged sheepishly. “But while I may be willing to crawl across glass, I think it’s pretty clear here who the fearless one is.”
Chapter Ten
Valentin
Valentin drove his beat-up sedan to the staff parking area hidden behind the mansion. While his was by far the worst, none of the employees’ vehicles would look at home in front of the grand estate.
Surprisingly, Antoni’s SUV was the only car there. Valentin hoped everyone hadn’t called in sick. The last thing he needed was to catch the flu right now.
He was excited to find Zeller and tell him that he had passed the state’s post-secondary exam in the top percentile, making him eligible to receive public scholarship money for college. Most students took the exam in their senior year of high school, but Valentin hadn’t bothered. Since his parents expected him to support himself, he’d never considered the possibility that he could pursue his education.
Now he was going to attend university and get a business degree, putting him on the path to a career that would be acceptable to Zeller’s parents. It would take time, but after theirconversation in the garden, he knew he could bear the years as long as his omega was beside him.
Valentin assumed finding a few minutes alone with Zeller would be feasible since his fathers were on the other side of the province attending a conference where Keyes was the featured speaker. They wouldn’t return for a week.
But as Valentin made his way to the service entrance at the back of the house, something seemedoff.
Sunbeams filtered in through the closed curtains, highlighting dust particles floating in the air. The hallways were dark, with no lights on in any of the downstairs rooms.
The eerie silence unnerved him. Where was everyone? He supposed this explained the lack of cars. While the Parkensons didn’t maintain an enormous staff, there were usually housemaids scurrying about. A cook in the kitchen.
Valentin moved cautiously down the long hallway that ran beside the study, the billiards room, and the home office. He heard nothing but the echo of his own footsteps.
He passed the kitchen and the great room.
After another slow, silent minute, he reached the front entryway and finally heard someone else.
With relief, he glanced at the staircase to see Antoni hurrying toward him.
“Thank stars!” the butler exclaimed. “I was about to call you. I sent the rest of the staff home because, obviously, they can’t help and it seemed important to aim for some semblance of privacy.” He leaned over and placed his hands on his knees. “I can’t believe this is happening. I called Keyes and Deveron twice and left messages but haven’t heard anything.”
A low whooshing sound hummed in Valentin’s ears. Something was clearly going on, but Antoni wasn’t making any sense. And where was Zeller? The omega was definitely in the house because his sugar maple smell was incredibly intense.
Why was it so intense?
The back of Valentin’s neck tingled. His nostrils flared.
“Where is Zeller?” he demanded.
“Upstairs.” Antoni panted with anxiety. “I don’t know what his parents would want me to do…If they’d want to keep things…discreet…they never said…I could call a service…but I didn’t know…so I was waiting…for you…because…you can…help.”
His words were so disjointed that Valentin almost didn’t catch the most important ones.Call a service.
“Antoni, is Zeller—?”
The butler nodded. “Yes. Heat. He told me a few hours ago.”
Valentin sucked in a breath.
