AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Etta also stood, reaching out for my hand, her face softening.
“I think I understand,” she said quietly. “You’re concerned that these rumors are true.”
Relief rushed through me, overtaking my earlier anxiety, and I nodded, grateful that Etta saw through my flimsy ruse.
“Honey, don’t worry,” she said grimly. “If Orson is doing something that awful, I want to know about it, but I’ll keep your name out of it, I promise.” She hung her head. “Human trafficking, really,” she growled. “Of all the despicable things…”
I tried to think of something to say, but nothing came to mind. What else could I possibly say now that I’d made things worse?
Instead, I grabbed my backpack and headed toward the gate again, promising to call Etta later, after my deliveries were done.
“You better,” Etta called out after me. “If not, I’ll be calling you.”
I exhaled as I slipped out the back gate, but I didn’t see Maisie until I secured it behind me.
“You’re digging yourself a pretty deep grave there, girlie,” the fae hissed at me.
I whipped around to confront her, our eyes clashing.
“Pardon me?”
“You need to mind your own damn business and keep your mouth shut!” Maisie snarled, her nose suddenly inches from mine.
Her eyes blazed, but I bared my fangs, and she immediately backed down. But the contempt remained in her eyes as she looked at me.
“What are you talking about?” I demanded, but Maisie ignored my question and stalked through the gate.
She had clearly heard at least part of my conversation with Etta.
Why did she care what I was asking… unless she knew more about Orson’s business than she was supposed to?
Suddenly, it felt like all eyes were on me everywhere, and I shivered, tucking my pack closer to my body as I rushed away from the center of Pario City. Was nowhere safe now?
Chapter22
Elijah
Leave it to Ash to find a palace in a place like Pario City, but Royce, his driver, pulled up to the largest building in town, elegant and sprawling with a courtyard that spanned half a city block. Not for the first time, I wondered about the logistics of his setup. I could only surmise that Orson needed to be close to his drugs and runners, his trust issues bordering on paranoia when he’d worked for me.
“Tomorrow, we’ll go back for your belongings, so you don’t antagonize Abigail,” Ash said the night we checked in.
“Good plan,” I said, but a pang of regret shot through me.
I didn’t want to leave her like that. Yet she was the one who ordered me gone. She’d been trying to get me off her property from the moment I’d arrived.
She’ll be glad I’m out of her hair.
That didn’t mean I felt any less terrible about the way we’d left things. But Ash was right. I’d have to give her time to sort through what she’d heard about Orson. The gargoyle had been her employer for longer than I’d been her lover. Her loyalties were torn.
Ash checked me into a suite that was bigger than Abby’s entire house combined. It boasted three bedrooms, a full kitchen, and two bathrooms. Twin balconies overlooked the entire city from different angles.
I slept fitfully on a huge bed that was reminiscent of the one I’d owned when I’d last lived in the city. My estate had long since been dissolved into what Ash called a “shopping complex.”
It was time to rebuild my empire.
“It’s fit for a king,” Ash announced as I stood on the living room patio the next morning, staring out at my town.
An odd feeling overtook me looking at it now. It had changed so much since my reign here, but it wouldn’t have existed without me. When I had arrived in the dusty, empty desert, there had been nothing but buzzards and nomads. It had been one of the reasons I’d chosen it. The naked canvas had appealed to me, the lost hobos looking for guidance. I had been their leader into prosperity.
