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The crying was definitely coming from there. Off to the side of the room was a massive closet. A soft glow colored the carpet, and he knew.
Someone was crying in the closet. Hiding in shame.
“Lilliane,” he whispered.
It was a hell of a risk.
He was naked on the side of the wall. If it wasn’t her, he would have to leap from the building and hope to fuck he could shift in time to land on his feet. He hadn’t done something this insane since he was a kid, just coming into his change and pushing the limits of what his shifter body could do.
“Lilliane,” he tried again. “Hey. Psst. You okay?”
There was the sound of someone gasping. A shuffling of clothes. Then she appeared.
He’d seen enough pictures of Lilliane to know it was her.
She swept the room with her eyes before she noticed him. She gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. “What the fuck? Who are you? What are you doing at my window?”
“I’m Nero Greenlee. Here with your sister Valentine. She just wants to know if you’re okay. And if you’re not, well … If you want to leave and go back home, she wants to give you that chance.”
Lilliane shook her head. “I can’t.”
He frowned. “Your sister went through a lot of trouble to get here. Maybe you can just see her for a few seconds.”
“No. I didn’t ask her to come. The idiot! What’s she playing at?”
“The good big sister?” he offered too brusquely. He wasn’t pleased with Lilliane’s reaction. If she stayed, it would make Val sad, and then he wouldn’t know how to make it better.
“I didn’t ask her to come. You’d think that me ignoring her calls would be a good tipoff that I want to be left alone.”
“Do you, though?” he pressed, his patience wearing thin. “Because you’re in here crying. I can’t imagine that you’re too happy.”
“That is none of your business.”
“Maybe, but Val is my business. She’s been sad, and I don’t like to see her so sad.”
Lilliane’s shoulder sagged in relief. Her mouth even curled into a small smile despite the tears still rolling down her cheeks. “You don’t like to see her sad,” she repeated like it was a great revelation.
“No.”
“Is that because she’s your mate? Like Reece and Celestine are mates?”
Nero faltered and nearly lost his grip on the stone window ledge. Valentine should really be the first one to hear that news. “Umm…” How could the Half-Blood guess that so quickly? Was he that transparent? Lilliane caught on to his reluctance, and her eyes went full and bright despite the tears.
“She is! She’s yours!” Her voice turned bittersweet as she continued, “I am so happy for her. But you can’t let her see me. I can’t see her or talk to her. You have to go. Do everything you can to convince her that I am okay here.”
“I can’t lie to her. I won’t.”
“Then you’re going to doom her to be sad,” she threatened.
“Seriously?” he snapped. “You’re putting this on me?” Something wasn’t right. All of his instincts were telling him something was wrong. Bad. Dangerous, even.
“Are you safe?” he asked.
“I am. I will be even safer when you take Val and get the hell away from here. Tell her I’m doing this for her, okay?”
He shook his head. “That makes no sense. You know she will never let this go. She’s likely to barge in here …”
The words were barely out of his mouth when a loud knock boomed through the room.
