Page 62 of Monster's Obsession

He went back to slicing the eyeball, arranging more pieces on plates.

"I know some of the circle well. Others are not quite as interested in interacting."

"What about… Steele?"

"Steele is probably the member of the king’s circle I’m closest to—was closest to," he corrected himself. He paused in his slicing for a moment. I held my breath, wondering what he was going to say or what questions I should ask.

"Towards the end of the Red Queen’s rule, before she was killed, Steele would spend hours here with me. I got the sense that not all was well with the Red Queen." His words were careful, and I wondered what he would have said instead if we were friends and he trusted me.

“He's been missing since the fight, and I'm worried about him," I confessed.

He nodded, but he also chuckled as well. "The king and his monsters are not creatures you need to be worried about. But if you can't help yourself, there are some places that he might go."

I perked up at that pronouncement, feeling hopeful for the first time.

“Will you tell me where those places are? Please," I begged. "I'd really like to make sure that he's all right."

He glanced up at me again. "You love him," he said matter-of-factly. Of course, just like any time that word was brought up, my first instinct was to immediately deny it, to run away from the very idea of it. I hesitated this time, images of Steele flicking through my mind, my chest warming as I thought about him, as I savored how he'd always treated me, and the words that he'd said.

"I do," I finally said, the words tasting strange on my lips… But right at the same time.

Love was a dangerous thing, that I was sure of. But it was exhausting to keep trying to stay away from it.

He nodded again, in that funny way of his.

"There's a cave in the outer walls of the city. It was where the king and his circle would gather with the Red Queen. If he was anywhere, I bet he'd be there.”

My stomach clenched at the mention of her name, just like it always did, hot jealousy spiking in my throat.

"Could you by chance give me some directions on how to get there? Is it safe for me to get there?" Maybe I shouldn't have been asking the question to basically a perfect stranger, but there was just something about Bane that seemed so trustworthy. Something told me he meant me no harm and that he could be a great friend if I let him.

Proving my thoughts weren’t absolutely crazy, he sat down his knife and wiped his hands on his apron.

"The king and the others would have me killed if I sent you to the caves alone. As much as we like to pretend that Wyld is a peaceful place, the Red Queen's death taught us otherwise.” I could tell from the way he said the words, that he thought the killer was still out there, that he one hundred percent believed it wasn't Steele. Just another point in the pro column for liking Bane. A thought tried to push its way to the surface in my head, words being spoken by someone, but as soon as I tried to grasp onto the memory, my head started hurting so bad that I bent over in pain.

"Blake," Bane called out worriedly, hustling over and stopping just a few feet away, obviously not knowing how close he was allowed to get to me.

I stood up shakily, rubbing my temple as the pain subsided. "Not sure what happened."

"Should I get you back to the king?"

I gritted my teeth, taking a few deep breaths as the pain continued to subside. "No, I'd like to go check the cave," I insisted.

Bane’s face was torn for a second, but he finally nodded and gestured back to the double doors that led to the hallway in the elevator. We both made our way through, and once we got to the elevator, he said, "the tunnels," in a calm, clear voice, and the elevator began to move.

I shook my head. "How do all of you manage to get it to do what you want?" I complained. “I end up in every place but the one I'm wanting to go to whenever I get in this thing."

He chuckled, nodding his head once again. "You thought about leaving this place, haven't you?" The way he said it wasn't really a question, more like a statement.

"I want to stay," I said slowly. "I think. But it wasn't my intention to ever come here in the first place, so I suppose deciding that I'm going to make it my home for good is a process."

He nodded again. "I think you'll find that your relationship with the elevator goes much smoother once you've made that decision."

I glanced at him in confusion. "The way that you're talking, it's as if the elevator is a sentient being," I mused.

He lifted an eyebrow, or at least he gave the appearance of lifting something. The way his skeletal features moved, you only got the gist of things. "Who said it wasn't?"

Before I could ask anything else, the elevator came to a halt and the doors opened. I blinked when I saw a stone tunnel in front of me.