Page 129 of Vicious Knight
I narrow my eyes. “Not even Levgen?”
“No. He doesn’t know the man was a Knight or anything about the strange words he spoke.”
That’s odd. “Why wouldn’t your mom want you to tell him that? That might have helped your father’s investigation.” It could have helped me.
“My mom was terrified. She was so scared we were going to die. The Knights were going to kill us, Thorne. Death by firing squad.” A tear runs down her cheek. “When Levgen saved us my mom barely wanted me to mention my father’s name. Every time I spoke about the scar-faced man she shut me down. She thought I would say whatever I needed to to help my father. She didn’t believe me. No one believed me. They thought I made it up to help him.”
“I was hardly believed, either. People thought I made up a monster to explain the disaster and the loss of my family.”
She sniffles and nods. “Over the years I hated that my mom didn’t want to hear anything about that horrible night. But as I got older I understood her. I was her little girl and she didn’t want to watch me die like that. She wasn’t even thinking about herself. In her mind my father was guilty and she was going to do whatever she could to protect me, and Levgen. He didn’t need to help us.”
I nod, understanding her, too. “He risked a lot.”
“He did. But sometimes… I feel like I really died. I imagine feeling those bullets piercing through me. I can see myself being ripped apart, and I see my mother, too. The two of us as dead as those people were at the palace.”
She pauses and wipes her tears. I walk over to her and rest my hands on her shoulders.
“It didn’t happen.”
“But it could have and nearly did.”
“It didn’t. I’m not going to let anything happen to you or your family.”
“Really, Thorne?”
“I promise.”
“Thank you. You’ll never know how much that means to me.”
“I think I do.” I give her a faint smile, showing I understand. “Is there anything else you need to tell me?”
She shakes her head slowly. “No. You know everything about me now. Everything.”
“Then leave this with me.” I pull her closer, holding her to my heart. “I will look into it further.”
“What are you going to do if you’ve already searched the database before?”
“The two of us can start by looking through it together.” I think that will make her feel better in some ways, even though it’s pointless. “I don’t think we’ll find him but we can look. Maybe you’ll see something I didn’t see.”
“I would really like that.” She seems hopeful, then thinks for a moment. “Thorne, I thought all Knights had to be on the database. If he’s not there and he’s a Knight, isn’t that against some law?”
“Yes, but some Knights aren’t on there. There are various reasons for them to stay hidden but, oftentimes, there are some we refer to as rogue Knights. I suspect this guy is like that.”
Her eyes darken with a mixture of fear and curiosity. “I don’t think he was working by himself.”
“Neither do I.” I cup the side of her face and she places the flat of her palm to my chest. “I think someone hired him. But now that I know he’s a Knight it narrows my search.” Even though I still feel like I’m swimming in the ocean trying to pull the drops of water apart.
I’ll need help.
Not Caspian, though. As much as I would like to tell him what I’ve learned tonight, and as much as he deserves to know, I can’t say a word. Not yet.
I can’t tell him because of her.
Ivy.
The moment I say one word about this he’ll want to know where I got my information. I’d have to tell him her secret. Telling him her secret puts him in that position of conflict. He’s supposed to be the next leader of the Knights and the next Pakhan of the Komarovski.
He’d be bound to kill her just for avoiding the death sentence.