Page 120 of No One’s Daughter

I looked behind us to see Davien staring daggers at me from the seat where they’d placed him, practically at the other end of the space and the weirdest part about that was that I got it. I understood. I think I’d have reacted the same.

We had a strange relationship, him and I. If you could even call it that. I respected him, he was old for a turned one. Much older than me. He’d seen and been through a lot. I’d always been curious about his presence in the Ninth, it didn’t add up. He liked to act like an ass and a bully, but the more I studied him, the more I grew to the conclusion that it was an act. And the way he’d been acting with Ailsa all but confirmed it. He had hidden her from us, for good reason I suspected. That took guts. He knew walking in here tonight would not end well for him and he did it anyway.

Part of me envied his ability to do that.

Part of me wondered if push came to shove would I side with him?

My ending up at the Ninth hadn’t been planned, hadn’t really been a choice either. I’d tried to make the best of it, but maybe that time was coming to an end. Maybe I’d be forced to choose sooner rather than later where I stood. And maybe for once, my morals would win.

CHAPTER FORTY FOUR

Ailsa

THAT HAD BEEN the most uncomfortable dinner of my life, and that was saying something. Now, we’d all been ushered outside for some performance.

​The night air wrapped around me like a velvet vice the moment we stepped into the courtyard, thick with the perfume of roses. The outside was just as impressive as the inside had been, evergreen hedges that were immaculately maintained, sculpted into circular shapes, while great stone planters overflowed with some sort of ivy that almost looked wet under the glow of the candlelight.

​Beyond the manicured lawn, a structure loomed. It was part glasshouse, part theatre—a sprawling conservatory crowned in arched panes that reflected the flickering light of hundreds of candles within. The glow spilled outward, golden and hypnotic through the massive arched entryway. I’d never seen anything like it, the opulence, the sheer display of wealth.

​Davien had parted through the crowd, appearing next to me as we crossed the threshold and rows of seating arranged around a stage appeared, his hand the ghost of a touch away from mine. I felt an odd sense of comfort by his presence. He really had grown on me, despite his betrayal. He was the only one in my corner. And that made him my only friend in a sea of sharks.

​Before he could utter a word, I saw two of Valerius’s goons pull him back. I couldn’t hear what they’d said to him, but his face was furious, so different from the expressions I’d grown used to. This was his real anger. And honestly, if that was the face he had shown me in the beginning, I would have been terrified. But the anger and rage he’d shown me weren’t like this. He really didn’t hate me, and he never had.

​I swallowed hard as I turned to look away from him. What was I supposed to do with that knowledge? He’d still betrayed me. And it’s not as though any of it mattered. We couldn’t be a thing, he’d made that clear, even if had wanted it. Which I definitely didn’t.

​I was here for Claire and that was it.

​I’d need to disappear once I got her back, we both would.

​How was I going to explain all of this to her?

​I was on the edge of a panic attack.

​Leon appeared at my side again as if he’d sensed my rising terror, his presence oddly comforting. He escorted me gently but firmly toward one of the seats in the front row, his hand hovering just enough to steer without forcing.

​“This way, sweetheart,” he instructed and I let him guide me to our seats. I couldn’t resist asking about Claire again and this time to my surprise, Leon seemed to have recalled a brief sighting of her. He’d claimed that he hadn’t known who she was at the time, but confirmed that she was alive earlier today.

​That should have given me hope, some sort of reassurance. But the pit in my stomach only grew.

​Where was she now?

“Sit,” he murmured.

I didn’t argue.

I didn’t know what to make of him. Sure we’d had that encounter at the club, but he didn’t know who I was and I certainly didn’t know who he was. We were never supposed to have seen each other again.

​He owed me nothing, just as I didn’t owe him.

​It was foolish of me to think that he might be on my side just because we’d had sex. But he seemed genuine.

I blew out air, I was really heating up. This was too much.

The moment I lowered myself into the chair, I realised how tightly wound I was. My leg bounced uncontrollably, my fingers trembling where they rested against my thigh.

I slammed my hand over my knee, trying to still it.

​I was a ball of nerves and I was afraid I’d explode.