Aysel
I had my phone pressed to my ear, one leg kicked straight up in the air like I was trying to stretch a hamstring that didn’t exist, sprawled across the couch in Magnus’s main house.
My other hand gestured wildly as I recounted the interrogation, because even though Skylar couldn’t see me, I needed the physical motion to convey just how brilliant I’d been.
“…and then I just asked him, straight up, ‘What did Kael tell you to do?’ And the lieutenant completely crumbled.
I mean, full-on sobbing, shoulders shaking, the works.
It was honestly a little pathetic, but also incredibly satisfying.”
There was a beat of silence on Skylar’s end.
Then, flatly: “You compared the lieutenant’s dead Alpha to your ex-mate?”
“Not compared,” I corrected, swinging my leg down and sitting up slightly.
“I used the comparison as a psychological framework.
Kael and Damon were raised together.
Same environment, same values.
The lieutenant would have followed Kael’s orders like a religious mandate, and I knew that the only way to get him to break was to make him see that Kael’s real order was to protect the pack, not to enable Celestine’s schemes.
It was a brilliant deduction, honestly.”
“And you’re telling me you figured all that out in the middle of interrogating him?”
“I figured it out before I even walked in,” I said, unable to keep the smugness out of my voice.
“Magnus had mentioned that Kael gave the lieutenant a final instruction.
That was the key.
From there, it was just…
connecting dots.”
“Uh-huh.” Skylar’s voice was dripping with skepticism.
“And you said all this in front of naked chef?
You talked about Damon and Kael continuously in front of him.
Really?”
“Yeah, I did.
But that’s not the point” I said.
“Look, the point is, I did good work.
Magnus should be singing my praises right now.
Instead, he just gave me this weird glare.
I don’t know what his problem is.”
The silence on Skylar’s end stretched longer this time.
“Skylar?”
“You really don’t know anything do you?”
“Know what?” I asked, genuinely puzzled.
What was she on about?
Before I could press her further, a knock sounded at the front door.
I tipped my head back to look toward it, but I didn’t bother sitting up.
I was too comfortable, and besides, I was still on the phone.
“One sec, Skylar,” I said.
“Someone’s at the door.”
“I heard.
Just call me back when you’re free.”
“Will do.”
I ended the call and stuffed the phone into my pocket, still lounging on the couch.
From my upside-down vantage point, I watched Magnus emerge from the bedroom, shirtless, his bandages visible beneath his ribs.
He moved slowly abd deliberately, taking his time pulling on a clean shirt before he even acknowledged the knock.
He finally crossed the room and opened the door.
I couldn’t see who was standing there from my position, but I heard the rustle of fabric and the soft click of heels on the floor.
A moment later, a woman stepped into view, and I immediately recognized her, Ivy, the one who had made Magnus’s subordinate stiffen uncomfortably.
She was trailed by a group of attendants, all of them with their heads bowed, their postures radiating deference.
Ivy’s gaze swept the room and landed on me.
Her lips curled into a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
“Ah, so this is the girl you’ve brought,” she said, her voice carrying a mocking lilt.
“I have to admit I’m a little bit worried about your taste in women.
How…
quaint.”
I sat up abruptly, my face flushing with indignation.
Why the hell was she mocking me when she’d been nothing but nice earlier?
Or had that been all a facade?
“Excuse me?
I’m not…”
Magnus cut me off before I could finish, his voice cold as winter stone.
“I suggest you watch your tongue, Ivy.”
Ivy’s face twitched with irritation but she recovered quickly, smoothing her features into a mask of practiced concern.
“Magnus, I’m just looking out for your wellbeing.
And for the wellbeing of the pack.
The woman you’ve brought back with you…”
“Both my parents are dead,” Magnus said flatly.
“I am the Alpha of this pack.
You have no business trying to discipline me or anyone I choose to bring into my home.”
The silence that followed was deafening.
Ivy stood frozen, her mouth slightly open.
She looked like she wanted to argue, but something in Magnus’s eyes must have stopped her.
After a long moment, she gave a stiff nod.
“Of course, Alpha,” she said, the words clipped.
She turned sharply and swept out of the room, her attendants scrambling to follow.
The door clicked shut, and the room felt suddenly empty.
I sat there, staring at the closed door.
I was surprised and secretly pleased at the way Magnus had defended me so fiercely.
“I’m sorry,” I said quickly, because I didn’t know what else to say.
“I didn’t mean to cause any trouble and she was nice to me earlier.
Maybe I should have been more respectful to her.
She probably thinks I was not.
Besides I had no idea who she is…”
“There’s no need to know who she is,” Magnus said, cutting me off gently.
“You’ll find out eventually.”
I looked at him.
He was standing near the door with his face carefully blank.
But there was a deep seated isolation in his eyes that made my chest ache.
I wanted to ask.
I wanted to know who Ivy was, why he seemed so utterly alone despite being surrounded by people who answered to him.
But I didn’t ask.
Instead, I just nodded, letting him have his privacy.
“Okay,” I said softly.
“I won’t push.”
He met my gaze, and for a moment.
“Thank you,” he said.
I didn’t respond.
I just sat there, watching him, feeling the weight of the secrets he carried and the loneliness he tried so hard to hide.
And despite everything, despite the danger and the complication and the fact that I really should be heading home, I felt my curiosity about him deepen.
Who was Magnus, really?
What had happened to him?
And why did the thought of leaving him alone in this big, empty house feel like the wrongest thing I’d ever considered?
I didn’t have answers.
But I was starting to think I wanted to find them.