“Do you like to play games, Molly?” Nyx opened the door to Bianca’s old room.
“When Megan or our friends want to play, I play.”
The oddly worded response drew Nyx’s gaze to the little girl. “What about when you want to play?”
Molly shrugged and walked into the room. “I shift into my lioness and play. My friends and twin can’t. Their animals aren’t old enough to come out and play.”
Anton had mentioned Molly had been experimented on. He hadn’t mentioned what exactly happened to her, however.
“You only have one animal, right? You’re not like Anton and Kade, who have three.” Because only Royals could shift before maturity. Those born as single shifters got to deal with their raging hormones and a new furry side once they turned twenty-five.
“I’m…” Molly pursed her lips. “Weird. I look like my sister, but I’m not like Megan. I’m like…me. Weird. I can’t die.”
Nyx turned to the bedframe to hide the shock on her face. She’d heard the rumors about the groups who envied the Royals so much, they were trying to steal their immortality. Anton had hinted at this too. Nyx simply hadn’t understood what that meant until now.
“Not weird.” Nyx knelt on the floor between the bedframe and the wall. She’d been meaning to explore the floorboards since this morning. Without the mattress and carpet in the way, she had a perfect view of this spot in the corner. The indentations along the edge of one of the floorboards appeared deliberate. “Unique and special.”
“There’s no one else like me. That makes me—”
“Irreplaceable.” Nyx stopped Molly from once again calling herself weird. “And that’s exactly what we should all strive to be.”
Molly knelt next to Nyx. “I have a price on my head.”
“All girls do, Molly. Shifter females are valuable. Especially the strong ones like you. There are many men who will look at you as a commodity, not a person.” And Nyx hated that fact. “I’m hoping to change people’s perceptions once they see me on the Council, and that women and girls will come to me for help.”
“If you’re mated to Anton, they won’t.”
Nyx traced the floorboard from the unnatural indentations to where the piece butted up against the next board. The groove between the pieces looked bigger than in the rest of the uneven plank floor. The pieces of wood in this section of the room were also shorter than the rest. It was almost as if the builders had run out of large planks and used whatever leftover pieces they had on hand to finish this floor. “Why wouldn’t women and girls come to me?”
Molly turned her attention to the floorboards and skimmed her fingers along the edge as Nyx had done, except instead of stopping where the two boards met, Molly traced several boards to form an uneven rectangle. “He’s going to mate you. Mates know everything about each other. Girls won’t want him to know stuff about them.”
“Even you?”
Molly nodded.
With her skirt tucked under her legs, Nyx sat cross-legged next to Molly. “Anton’s a good man. He won’t take knowledge from my mind if I tell him not to.”
Molly gave Nyx a side-eyed look as if she found what Nyx had said hard to believe.
“I’m serious, Molly. Anton will respect my privacy.” And if he didn’t, then maybe they shouldn’t mate.
“Promise?” Molly raised her brows.
“Promise.”
“I wish everyone would respect my privacy.” Molly studied her fingernails. “But they don’t because I’m wei…” She flicked her gaze to Nyx. “I’m special.”
Dressed in jeans and a T-shirt with kittens on it, Molly looked as average as any child her age. She wasn’t average, though. Not by a long shot. Nyx considered what to say to this little girl that might make a difference in her life. She drew a blank. Words wouldn’t make things better. Actions helped. A goal. That was what Molly needed.
“What do you want, Molly?”
“From what?”
“Life.” Nyx smiled as she thought back to the day Boris had asked her if she wanted to work alongside him on the Council. The goal of being the first female councilwoman had shaped her life from that moment. “Your life. You’ve been given an opportunity other girls your age haven’t. What are you going to do with this gift?”
Molly didn’t hesitate in her answer. “Protect my sister and our friends.”
Nyx skimmed her hand along the floorboard. The grooves matched the width of her spread fingers. She gripped the floorboard. The section Molly had traced wobbled, but Nyx didn’t lift it. She turned to Molly. “Why?”
“Because.”
Nyx might not have interacted with kids her own age, but she remembered the exasperated expressions on her uncles’ faces when she’d responded vaguely. “Because you feel like you have to? Because you love them? Why?”
“Because they’re mine.”
Nyx grinned. For a shifter, that answer meant everything. “I understand. Anton is mine too. I want to protect him.”
“From what?”
“People are telling lies about him.” Nyx lifted the fused section of floor and bit her lip to contain her smile. About a foot down, a trapdoor was visible. When opened, the door would swing down. “And I’m going to prove them wrong.”
“What kind of lies?”
“They say he killed his last secretary. He didn’t.” Nyx motioned to the trapdoor. “This proves it.”
“It does?”
“Yep.” Nyx vibrated with excitement. If she could’ve figured out how to speak into his mind, she would’ve screamed for Anton to come see what she’d found. “Bianca was sneaking out every night. I think she had a boyfriend.”
“And he killed her?” Molly’s expression matched the disbelief in her voice. “People who love us aren’t supposed to hurt us.”
“No, they’re not.” Nyx studied the trapdoor. “Maybe they disappeared together.” Though, that explanation didn’t fit either. Where was Bianca, then? A missing-person listing for her had been posted on the community boards for months with a hefty reward. Surely someone would’ve wanted to cash it in.
“You think they left through here?” Molly reached into the hole in the floor and opened the hatch. The trapdoor swung down, revealing a ladder. “Where does this go?”
Even with the aid of her jaguar’s enhanced vision, Nyx couldn’t see far into the hole, but she could guess. “The dungeon.”
Molly folded her arms on the edge and studied the hole. Her nostrils flared. Her brows drew down. “A dungeon? Do they kill people here?”
Nyx laughed. “No. It’s not really a dungeon. That’s just what they call it. There’s a natural network of caves under the campus. It’s been expanded to include manmade living areas and treasure rooms.”
“Treasure rooms?” Molly’s eyes lit up.
Tension in Nyx’s shoulders eased. This was how Nyx expected a little girl to act, excited and curious. “Yes. There are seven brothers who are in charge of guarding all our ancient artifacts, including the books written by the first shifters. We’ve based our laws and culture off what’s written in those books. They’re very, very important.”
“Can I see them?”
“I don’t see why not.” Tsar had mentioned the councilmen’s designees and guests could access the dungeon. Bianca had gone there often. Kade was there now. “But we should wait until…”
Nyx’s jaguar pushed at her at the same time Molly grabbed Nyx’s arm. They had a visitor, and Nyx had no desire to talk to her uncle now. Too bad she didn’t have the luxury of ignoring him. Boris was coming this way.
She rushed forward and met her uncle as he turned the corner into the service corridor. “What are you doing here?”
Boris looked past her to the doorway of Bianca’s old room. Molly wasn’t standing there, but her scent lingered in the hallway. There’d be no denying her presence. “I heard we have a very important visitor. I wanted to come escort her to Council chambers.”
Nyx pushed against Boris’s upper arms in a lame attempt to move him. He didn’t budge an inch. “Not tonight. Molly plans on standing before the Council on the new moon. Until then, we’re just relaxing.”
“Not in this house, she’s not.” Boris puffed out his chest. “That child would be safer in mine.”
Nyx stared at her uncle in disbelief. He carried a protective vibe. She recognized it. He’d always had that look on his face when he’d warned her not to leave the house by herself. Why now and for a non-Mercer? “Molly is under the protection of the Alexander pride. Anton would do anything for her.”
“Anton is a murderer.” Boris whispered the accusation. “Or have you forgotten?”
“No, he’s not.” Nyx couldn’t stand her uncle’s baseless accusations a minute longer. “And I’ll fight you and anyone who dares try to pin Bianca’s murder on him.”
Boris went completely still. “And why is that?”
All the happy memories of growing up returned. They blended with the revelations of the past few days. Nyx couldn’t make herself accept that her uncle was evil. She could, however, believe he had an ulterior motive for his actions. “What secret did you know about Bianca?”
“Why are you so sure Anton didn’t kill Bianca?”
“Because you raised me to act with honor. You didn’t raise me to play games with people’s lives or to decide who should live and who shouldn’t.” Anger bled through Nyx’s words. “If that’s what is expected of Council members, you’ve failed to prepare me for my role.”
“I know for a fact Anton killed her. There is no maybe. He’s a murderer, and I will see justice served.” Boris smiled. “And if it has the added benefit of freeing a seat on the—”
“Stop!” Nyx was sick of her uncle’s agendas. She’d rather never claim a seat on the Council than see Anton hurt. “How do you know Anton killed Bianca? How? Because I will stake my life on the fact that he didn’t.”
“I followed her that night.” Boris leaned close. “She never left this house. That was the last time anyone saw her.”
“Why did you follow her?”
“Because I’d planned to kill her myself. Anton beat me to it.”
Nyx gasped. She glanced over her shoulder. No sign of Molly. It didn’t mean the little girl wasn’t listening. Nyx grabbed her uncle’s hand and dragged him farther away from the room. She couldn’t believe this was happening. Her uncle was many things. But to kill a defenseless female? “Kill her? Why? Why would you do such a thing?”
“Mates are a weakness to exploit, Nyx. And I hated Bianca’s mate even more than I hate Anton.”
“Why? What did Bianca’s mate do to make you hate him so much?”
“He was going to play god. He told me about his plans, how he wanted all assassins killed. Do you understand now, Nyx? No councilman should have that kind of power. He needed to die and killing Bianca would’ve been the easiest way to eliminate the threat he posed. If they’d been soul bonded, of course. Or if he’d loved her enough to follow her into death. Obviously neither of those were the case. Darn shame. It would’ve made my life so much easier.”
Nyx swallowed hard. This was what Anton feared. This was the reason behind his cruel treatment of her this morning. He feared someone would hurt her to hurt him. “Who was Bianca mated to?”
“Brock Kane.”