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“Oh, you will. Not now, though…” He releases me and steps back, looking me up and down, the corner of his lips curved downwards, one eyebrow cocked. It’s a look that makes me want to cover myself in baggy clothes and run.
He turns, walking back to the door, and pushes the chest of drawers back in its place.
“Stop moving my furniture around.”
When he pulls open the door, a tall, slim woman stops before it, hair so dark it looks like a starless sky and eyes a gray so bright, as the stars that fell off it. I’m surprised she’s not afraid to make any movement in that dress. I would certainly be scared it would snap, but then again, it’s short enough that it doesn’t constrict her legs in any way. The deep red suits her, though.
“Hello, Raven,” he greets her.
She catches my gaze for only a split second, but when she turns to Ryan, the most lascivious smile I’ve seen on a woman paints her lips. My eyebrows furrow, wondering whether her presence here is free of charge or not. But when Ryan’s foot leaves my doorway, I don’t linger on that thought and slam the door behind him.
Moments later, the lock clicks from the outside.
I cherish that lock.
Too bad I’m not the one with the key.
CHAPTERTWENTY-ONE
MORRIGAN
The distinctive turn of the doorknob wakes me up. Not a hard turn, not loud, only a faint click. I snap into a sitting position, the sheets gritty against my clenched fists, and wait, and my breath hitches when a soft knock sounds on the door. Just one. The next moment, a small white paper slides on the floor, stopping at the edge of the rug the bed sits on.
My eyes flicker between it and the door, my broken mind waiting for the trap to come, like the monster is under the bed and the moment my feet touch the ground, he’ll grab them.
Nothing comes, only a barely audible sound of a door clicking in place.
Maybe a minute passes and muffled voices come through from the other side of the wall, in a tone of voice that makes my stomach tighten. I know what’s coming. I heard it before I fell asleep, but at least the asshole didn’t make me watch again.
I slowly step out of bed, trying not to make a sound, and grab the paper. Only it has a heaviness to it, and it’s not a paper at all. It’s an envelope. I discard its contents onto the bed, and the moment I see it, my gaze snaps back to the door. A fucking key!
Who…?
There are only a few people in this house at one time: two guards, Gordon, who’s more of a coordinator, Ryan, and his mother; and none of them would have done this. As I pick it up, feeling the smooth texture of it, much lighter than a normal key as well, I think of the guest—Raven.
As I rub the key between my fingers, my gaze drifts out the window, to the dark clouds approaching fast, swallowing the puffy white ones until nothing is left of them.
Raven… Son of a bitch!
It hits fast and hard and somewhere in my chest, my heart rushes, beating a million miles per minute the moment I realize what’s happening. It all clicks into place, just as I know this key will click easily in that door, even without trying it. The Serpent is certainly sneaky, and it makes one wonder if the purpose of The Sanctum’s escort service is something else entirely.
I quickly change the blouse I fell asleep in, pulling a comfortable t-shirt over my head. I have no sneakers here, no comfortable shoes whatsoever, so barefoot it is.
The noises from behind the wall become strained. Moans… slapping of skin… and others I would rather ignore. And they increase in intensity—a perfect cover up.
I head to the door to try the key, grabbing the cold doorknob and twisting as gently as I can, waiting for a noise from the other side. I don’t think any of the guards are up here. Ryan doesn’t exactly run this house like a fortress, and tonight he might regret that. The key slides in with an ease that makes me wanna jump in excitement, and the moment I turn it and the lock clicks, a thunder rattles the windows.
I can’t help but smile. It’s like the gods are rooting for me. There’s something about a summer storm that brings promises of delicious chaos and new beginnings. Fuck knows I need them both.
As I slowly open the door, the noises from next door are louder and I have to swallow down the only visceral sensation this man instills in me now…sickness.I have to focus. The corridor seems empty, so I slip out, closing the door behind me. But I won’t lock it. I can’t have him know I had a key; he can go ahead and think I learned how to pick locks or something.
The foyer is underneath me, and from there a grand staircase leads to a landing about halfway up, then splits into two smaller staircases that take a U-turn on either side, against the walls. I step closer to the handrail, looking down the main steps, which are dimly brightened by the moonlight from the landing windows. There’s no one there. And I can’t hear anything beyond the moans coming from Ryan’s room at the end of the corridor, and the roaring thunder closing in.
I have to take a chance.
Turning to one of the staircases, I step down as carefully as I can, my attention on the ground floor that starts to peek through. There’s no movement, but my heart beats like I’m running a marathon, muscles tense at the cusp of pain.
I reach the landing and stand against the wall, trying to hide from the moonlight as I look for movement, the ground floor much more visible now. I can only see the left-hand side of the foyer, and as I lean in, I catch a shadow disappearing toward the right. Somewhere in the distance, a doorknob clicks… then nothing. It might be the bathroom, since there’s one around there, close to the kitchen.
