Page 30 of Nocturn

I startled at the low tone, then met his eyes. His gaze hardened.

“Mr. Egan⁠—”

“Officer Egan,” he corrected.

I nodded, acknowledging it. “Have you been at the Citadel for long?”

He rolled his jaw side to side. Finally, he said, “Yes, since I was a boy.”

I suppressed my excitement at hearing this. If he had lived there, he must know close to everything about the layout.

“How will things get worse?”

“You are slumbering at a whorehouse and you wonder.” His eyebrow ticked upwards. He clamped his mouth together, rolling his shoulders with obvious discomfort.

“How much worse?” I barely stopped myself from shoving off the bed to pace with the restlessness coursing through me.

“Sleep, you will gain nothing from rumination.” Egan turned away from me to continue staring at the wall as if it held every answer.

That was the end of the conversation from his end. I would not be able to pull any substantive information from him.

I settled and closed my eyes.

An image of Miriam in her wedding ivory gown when we went to her fitting flashed through my memory. The entire time, she had been so anxious selecting a train that she was happy with. By now, she must have already wed and was living at her husband’s estate.

From a young age, I had settled into the idea of looking after her. I believed I would be around for her children . . .

Such a simple time I never anticipated losing so quickly. Now I lay in a brothel, no longer considered appropriate as a lady—ruined by society’s standards. I sank my teeth into my trembling lip. A horrid reality.

I slid my fingertips under the metal collar to touch the raised flesh on my throat. My Sigil changed everything.

CHAPTER TEN

Library

Iascended the winding staircase, following Eliza’s path, attempting not to focus too much on the fact that Egan continued to follow, likely ensuring I didn’t attempt to run off. At dawnlight, Egan had woken me in a hurry and shuffled me to a waiting carriage, which was incredibly odd considering Renata had mentioned I would be at the brothel for a moon rotation.

But I supposed that was not for me to wonder over; I was only a Vessel.

Eliza’s wraithling squeaked on her shoulder, gripping onto the bottom of her bound hair. Its small body kept on alert, as if waiting for me to attack them.

Piper always did the same for me. She kept aware of the surroundings for us. A throb worked through my sternum. The distance from her had begun to weigh on me. We could be separated, but we had to touch before we grew too weak.

Eliza limped forward, having yet to address me since Drusilla had ordered her to take me to the library.

“Quite the elevation, hm?” Eliza murmured, eyeing my feeder gown, identical to the one worn by the woman that fed him.

Was Eliza the spy? As the only redblood I had encountered here, she made the most sense.

The throne came into view, set before the large window spanning the wall. My focus snagged on the spot, scrubbed clean now, where blood and brains had splattered. It was as if nothing had ever happened.

How much blood had been shed and just as similarly cleaned up? My dread eased as she walked past the spike to the large double doors I had yet to see inside of.

Eliza stopped and twisted the handle, tugging it open. The waft of ink, leather, and script invaded my senses. She waited, and when I met her eyes, she raised an eyebrow.

Ah, she waited for me to enter.

I squared my shoulders and strode past her, battling the urge to cover my legs that were bared with each step forward, the panels fluttering around. A thud behind me told me I had been sealed inside. I twisted and found Egan in the chamber. I exhaled and turned back around. Even though he was my jailer, he was a familiar face.