Page 147 of Wicked Lord

I tore off the expertly folded piece of paper taped to the bottom and opened a hand-drawn map of the jail. Arrows pointed me in a specific direction with11pmscrawled at the bottom.

My heart thudded against my ribs. This was the type of shit the Serpents & Daggers would do. Killian had to be involved. Atleast, I hoped. He knew I’d never go on the run. Had that twisted mind of his devised a solution to get me out of this mess?

The Copper Cove jail was practically silent by eleven at night. Most occupants were arrested for petty crimes and would be released in a few days, so the guards weren’t overly vigilant. Not much crime happened in this sleepy seaside town.

I was the only murderer.

If I wasn’t from such an affluent family, I probably would have been locked in solitary confinement with a guard posted outside my cell until I was transferred.

Being a Vanderhart definitely had its perks.

So did being a Lord.

The Serpents & Daggers probably had something to do with their leniency on me as well. The guard who slipped me the keys and map could have been an Ascended.

After trying one of the keys without success, I used another and unlocked my cell. The rubber soles of my sneakers barely made a sound on the concrete floor as I tiptoed down the hall. Soft snores came from one of the other detainees as I passed by.

I used a key to open a door at the end and peered into another corridor, my pulse racing. Thankfully, it was empty, so I snuck out and hurried through the jail, clutching the map in one hand to guide me.

My lawyer would have to work even harder to get me out of here if I was caught.

Part of me thought I deserved to be locked up. Ididkill Peter. Accident or not. And he was just an innocent kid. His life had ended because of me, so why did I get to be free when he was six feet under?

I might have been more inclined to stay and take my punishment if Lorelei wasn’t in danger. That asshole Brock did this to get me out of his way. I couldn’t protect Lorelei if I was in jail.

I opened another door to a wider hallway that looked less like a jail and more like an office space. The concrete floor was buffed and polished, and instead of white cinderblock walls, gray drywall stretched out.

My shoes squeaked to a stop when I caught sight of a security camera hanging from the ceiling in the corner.

Shit.

The map didn’t give any warning of that.

Maybe the CO manning the security center was the same one who slipped me this note and the keys.

I was already this far. I couldn’t turn back now, at least not until I found out what this was all about.

Another few minutes passed when I finally reached the door marked on the map with anX. I unlocked it and stepped inside a small conference room where someone sat at the chipped wooden table.

My eyebrows slammed down, and my muscles instantly tensed. “You’re not the Davenport I expected.”

A devilish smile curved Bass’s mouth. “But I’m the Davenport you need.”

“I highly doubt that.” Killian’s step-brother was a psychopath and right up there on the same dickhead level as Haversham. He tormented Killian and Lexi last year and fucked with all of us.

But he wasn’t the Domnus anymore and had no power over anyone.

“If you’re involved in this, thanks but no thanks.” When I turned to leave, Bass let out a chilling laugh.

“Come on, Vanderhart, just hear what I have to say.” He motioned his hand around the small room that smelled of old coffee and air freshener. “I worked so hard to arrange all this.”

I scoffed. “You probably paid someone to set this up.”

He reached into his blazer pocket and pulled out a chocolate bar. “I got this for you. It’s imported chocolate from France.”

The bastard knew food was my weakness, especially chocolate.

“You have five minutes, Bass.” I snatched the bar from his hand and slumped in the hard, wooden chair across from him.