Page 126 of Vicious Knight

And I’m embarrassed. I’m embarrassed by my situation and embarrassed he caught me and called me out.

“Undo the chains now, Thorne.”

“No. Not until you tell me what you wanted. It’s to do with your father, isn’t it?”

“Undo the chains.”

“Tell me.”

“Or what, you’ll leave me like this and get your uncle?”

“Like fuck. You’re mine. No one gets to see you like this but me.” He looks infuriated that I would even suggest such a thing. “Tell me what you wanted.”

I weigh my options and realize I don’t have any.

I never did. Besides, isn’t it easier to tell him what I need from the database now that he knows what I was trying to do?

This is not about me. It’s about my father.

“Undo my chains and I’ll tell you. I don’t want to talk to you like this. It’s serious.”

Thorne stares at me for a moment, contemplating.

Relief washes over me when he lowers to undo my chains. I’m even more relieved when he allows me to get off the bed and go to the bathroom to clean myself off.

I return to the room moments later and pull on my nightshirt. Thorne watches me with the keenness of a fox, his eyes following me as I pad back over to the bed.

I sit on the edge and he pulls up the chair next to it so he’s sitting in front of me.

“I’m waiting, little deer.”

I blow out a ragged breath. “I wanted to check the database because I’m looking for someone.”

He sits straighter and narrows his eyes. “Who would you be looking for?”

“It’s a man. I was at the palace on the night of the attack with my father.”

Thorne’s eyes widen. “What?”

“My mother was a surgeon. She had to go back to the hospital to work that night, so my father took me to work with him.”

“You saw what happened?”

“Not enough to do anything to save my father. He left me in a room to sleep. The sound of gunfire woke me, so I hid in the secret passage. A man came into the room…” My breath catches as my mind fills with the haunting memory of the scar-faced man. It’s been almost ten years since I had to tell this story so it’s hard.

“The man had a deep scar on his face.” I pause for a beat and blink past the painful memories. “My father’s friend, another guard, came in after him, and the man with the scar killed him. He said he was going to kill everyone, then he carved out his heart.”

Thorne stands but there’s something more than shock on his face. It looks like… recognition.

“Did he say anything when he took the guard’s heart? The man with the scar on his face.”

“Yes, some strange foreign words. Valin mortilum dohaliues.”

“Jesus.” Thorne touches his cheek and stares at me, searching my eyes. “Say those words again.”

“Valin mortilum dohaliues. I don’t know if I’m saying it right. That’s what it sounded like to me.”

“Yes. Those are the words.” He’s speaking to himself. He moves over to the window and stares out at the night. “Valin… mortilum dohaliues...”