Chapter 8. What He’s Hiding
Elara barely slept.
Julian’s words looped in her mind like a haunting melody: Help me find them... secrets... the queen decides.
But it wasn’t just what he said, it was what Damien didn’t.
He hadn’t asked why she went out.
He’d just assumed she had something to hide.
And maybe now, she did.
The next morning, Damien was gone again.
But this time, Elara didn’t sit around waiting.
She’d been in the penthouse for nearly three weeks, yet half the rooms remained locked, especially the study. It wasn’t the public one he showed guests, but a private, key card, sealed chamber tucked behind a hallway bookshelf.
She’d seen him disappear into it at odd hours. Once, she’d heard him arguing on the phone in a voice she didn’t recognize, clipped, low, almost desperate.
Now she stood before the door, card in hand.