213 Whispers in the Dark
Lucian
I woke up still pressed against Mara, my body wrapped around hers, still buried inside her. Her warmth, her scent, the steadiness of her breath, it almost made me forget the chaos waiting outside our bedroom.
Carefully, I eased away and rolled to my side. The sun was creeping through the curtains. Morning.
Which meant I could no longer avoid it.
I had to tell her about the Mistwood mission.
A sharp pulse in my head signaled a link from Darian, he’d been trying to reach me for a while.
What is it? I asked.
Father doesn’t want Lacy left alone with my mother, he said. I’ll head to the hospital later to relieve him.
I blinked. That was… specific. Harsh, even.
I knew our father had no love for Lacy, Alaric’s daughter, after all, but this level of distrust? It felt personal. Still, I wasn’t about to challenge him on it. Our father rarely acted without cause.
Alright. I’ll check in on you when I’m done here, I replied and ended the link.
I got up and went to brush my teeth. When I came back, Mara was awake. She stretched lazily, then smiled at me and padded into the bathroom. By the time she returned, there was color in her cheeks, light in her eyes. She looked better,
stronger.
“Guess breakfast won’t be as usual,” she said, grinning.
I nodded, grateful for that smile. For the moment of peace.
We showered again, quick but close. I linked Austin to bring breakfast to our room, neither of us needed the formality of
the dining hall.
Mara dressed in casual clothes, the kind she wore when she planned to stay in and relax. That was good. She needed it.
“How were things at the office?” I asked, settling at the foot of the bed.
She knelt behind me and wrapped her arms around my shoulders, pressing a kiss to the mark on my neck. Her touch was
soft, grounding.
I closed my eyes, enjoying it for a beat longer than I should.
But I knew it couldn’t wait much longer.
I had to tell her.
Mistwood was calling.
“Not good, Lucian,” Mara said quietly as she came to sit beside me.
There was no fire in her voice, just fatigue and frustration barely held together.
“Alice brought in a hacker. Someone she trusts. He found out how the funds were siphoned out,” she continued. “She thinks we should open new accounts and take a loan to keep the business alive, because of the people who depend on it.
I studied her, hearing everything she wasn’t saying yet. She had her own opinion. I could see it in her eyes.
1/3
“And what do you think?” I asked.
She exhaled slowly, grounding herself before answering.
“I think we should suspend operations, for now,” she said. “Not lay them off completely. Just pause everything. Give people space to find side work or rely on their pension savings while we sort things out.”
She placed a warm hand on my thigh, steady, deliberate.
“We can afford to pay two months in advance. That way, it won’t bleed us dry. But taking out a loan right now? That’s asking for more trouble. Chase is still out there, watching us. Waiting. If he hit our accounts once, he can do it again. Especially if we borrow money we don’t really have.”
I stayed silent. Listening.
She continued, her voice low and even. “We have to be smart with the resources we’ve set aside, save them for what really
matters.”
She looked at me then. “If Chase is working to cut off our military support, it means one thing: he’s preparing for war. Bleeding us financially and isolating us from our allies… that’s the smartest way to dismantle us without firing a shot.”
Her words were sharp. Sobering.
“I learned something recently, Lucian,” she added. “Our weapons reserves are depleted. Years of peace made us
complacent. If Chase severs our last lines of defense, we’ll need to buy arms, fast.”
She paused. “Five against one might sound like good odds. But not when they have the numbers, weapons, and morale
on their side.”
I ran a hand down my face, feeling the weight settle on my shoulders. She was right. Every word.
Her logic was airtight. But the fallout would be brutal. Cutting off pay. Halting work. Even with the advance, people would be angry. Some might riot. Some might leave.
And in their eyes, Chase would already have won.
“Lucian,” Mara said, pulling me from my thoughts.
Her voice was clear, focused, and something about her tone made me sit up straighter.
“There’s something off about Martha’s suicide attempt.”
That got my full attention.
I’d felt it too. Something about the timing, the details, it was all too… clean. Too convenient.
“What are you thinking?” I asked, watching her carefully.
She gave me a knowing smile, the kind she wore when she was sure of her instincts.
“When I got back, I checked her room myself,” she said. “I found letters, opened envelopes addressed to Darian and Lacy.
Along with two checks. But something else caught my attention… The area where she collapsed had been cleaned.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Cleaned?”
“Yes,” she said. “Too clean. Whoever did it tried to make it look untouched, but the lack of scent gave it away. It had been
wiped down. I think someone went back in to retrieve the poison.”
I frowned, her words clicking into place with the same discomfort I’d been trying to ignore.
“Why go back in after the fact? And why clean up, unless… they didn’t want us to find what she used?”
She nodded. “Exactly.”
213
+8 Points 2
*213 Whispers in the Dark
“May I see the letters?” I asked.
Without hesitation, she rose and retrieved them from the drawer. I scanned the envelopes, recognizing Martha’s
handwriting, and something twisted in my gut.
I didn’t like this. Not one bit.
I immediately linked Darian. Come to my room now. Bring Tiffany and Emma with you.
If someone inside this house was working for Chase, then none of us were safe.
Not even in our own home.
