Chapter 205: NO MORE HIDING
Author’s POV
Orin pulled the hood of his cloak farther over his head as he approached the main gates of the mansion, keeping his face lowered as he walked.
He had spent enough time trying to find his way back to the estate that he wasn’t willing to turn around simply because a guard decided to question him. His only concern was getting inside and finding Keisha, and he had already convinced himself that once he saw her, everything else could be dealt with afterward.
He reached the gates and tried to walk through with the other people coming and going, but one of the guards stepped directly into his path. "Stop there. Do you have a pass, a permit or an appointment with someone inside the estate?"
Orin lifted his head slightly, keeping his face mostly hidden beneath the hood. "Move."
The guard didn’t move, his expression stern. "I asked you for identification or a reason for being here. If you don’t have either, you can’t enter."
Orin looked at the guards around him and realized they were already watching him carefully. He cursed under his breath, then turned away before they could start asking more questions.
"I’ll deal with you later," he muttered as he walked away.
The guards continued watching him until he disappeared from their sight.
Orin didn’t go far. He knew the main entrance was too heavily watched now, especially with the current situation in the pack, and trying to force his way through would only attract more attention. He moved around the estate instead, eventually reaching the backside of the mansion where another gate stood between him and the grounds.
That entrance was even more secure. Of course it was.
Two guards stood nearby, with additional patrols moving along the wall. Orin stayed out of sight and watched their movements for several minutes before looking up at the wall itself. It was high, but not impossible.
"Fine," he muttered to himself. "If they won’t let me through the gate, I’ll go over it."
He found a section where he could get enough leverage to climb and began pulling himself upward. It wasn’t easy, and the height made the attempt more difficult than he’d expected, but he refused to stop. After several minutes, he finally reached the top, pulled himself over and dropped onto the other side.
He immediately looked around.
Nobody had seen him and Orin adjusted his cloak and started moving through the estate.
**************
Keisha remained in the library long after the crowd outside had dispersed. She had initially gone there because she wanted more answers about the heat incident, but after everything that had happened that morning, she found herself reading through whatever material could give her another direction.
Most of the books were useless to her investigation. Then she found a case study that caught her attention.
It involved a similar incident in which a substance had been obtained through a medical source, but the person responsible hadn’t been identified through the medical records alone.
The investigation had eventually moved toward financial records, particularly payments and transactions connected to the purchase and distribution of the substance.
Keisha read through the case carefully, then sat back. "Financial records."
The idea immediately made sense.
If Vera had been involved in obtaining the heat accelerant, there had to be some form of payment somewhere. Even if she had used someone else to make the purchase, there could still be a trail connecting her to it.
Keisha gathered the documents she had already collected and left the library.
She initially intended to return to Dane’s room, but when she reached the hall where Callum was, she stopped and thought about it for a moment before changing direction.
Callum.
She wanted to tell him what she had found, and after what had happened outside the mansion, she also wanted to see him.
When she entered the hall, the elders were just leaving.
Their faces immediately changed when they noticed her.
One of them muttered something under his breath, followed by another quiet comment from the elder beside him. Keisha couldn’t make out every word, but their expressions made their feelings obvious.
With her head raised high, she didn’t respond.
She simply watched them leave until the doors closed behind them.
Callum was standing across the room. The moment the elders were gone, he walked toward her and placed a hand against her face before bending down to kiss her forehead.
Keisha smiled despite herself.
There was still a guard standing inside the hall, and the man immediately looked away, clearly uncomfortable with watching the interaction. After a few seconds, he excused himself and left, closing the door behind him.
Keisha looked back at Callum. "I saw what you did outside."
Callum’s expression softened. "You were there?"
She smiled. "I was standing in the crowd."
He gave her a small smile. "Then you heard everything."
"I did." She nodded.
Callum reached for her hand. "I meant every word."
Keisha looked down at their joined hands. "You know what this is going to cause."
"I do. Pretty sure I thought about everything before I did all that."
Her voice became low. "The elders are already angry, and now everyone knows about us."
Callum gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "I’ve spent too long worrying about who might see me with you. If there’s anything I can say I actually like about this situation, it’s that I don’t have to hide anymore."
Keisha looked up at him and Callum smiled. "I can hold your hand when I want to. I can kiss you when I want to. If people see me doing it, they can deal with it."
She couldn’t help but huff a laugh at that. "Are you serious? Everything that happened and that’s what you’re happy about?"
He dropped his head down to her neck, his breath brushing her skin. "Of course, all I want is to be with you, Keisha. And I’m glad I can do that in public now."