Lycan's Prey by Jessica Hall

Chapter 125

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I want to trust Bree, but the weight of my responsibilities looms heavy. I know I must find the answers to the council’s demands, but I am also afraid of upsetting her and scaring her off.

It’s not until much later that I catch up with Bree at dinner; I sit at the dinner table, the warm glow of candlelight flickering around us. The meal is laid out, yet an air of unease hangs over everyone, and Bree looks exhausted as she picks at her food–no doubt from my mother smothering her with fabric this afternoon while the seamstress was here. My mother looks around the table with a frown. “Where is Damian?” she asks, her voice tinged with concern. I glance at his usual seat to see it is still empty. I spoke to him just before coming in here; I could have sworn he was right behind me.

“He was right behind me,” I reply, glancing toward the staircase. The nagging feeling in my gut grows stronger. I can‘ t shake the sense that Damian’s absence is deliberate, that he‘ s up to something because he walked down here with me but is suddenly absent. He knows how our mother gets over dinner, especially when she cooked again tonight, much to my staff’s horror. They know that means they have no say, and she’ll try to do everything herself while they are forced to watch or pass her things.

“He might be checking patrols,” my father offers.

“He knows I do that after dinner,” I reply.

“You aren’t coming to bed early tonight?” Bree asks, looking

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frowned slightly, knowing we still needed to talk

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earlier tonight. I just have a few meetings,” I tell her, though I am sure she is sick of hearing that. “Are you right with Max?” I ask her, and she nods, pushing her food. around her plate. My mother seems

but my chair scrapes against the floor

him,” I tell her, and she quickly sits back down.

his bedroom door, but there’s no answer. My curiosity piqued, I open the door slowly and step inside. The room is dark, and the

to the staff, I ask them. “Has anyone seen my brother?”

your room before we served dinner; I was going to take the laundry up. He said he’d drop it in your room, Your Majesty,” the girl answers, and I growl. “Thank you, Vanessa,” I

“Damian, are you in here?” I ask, shutting the door. My heart sinks when I spot him crouched in the corner of the closet, rummaging through Bree’s old suitcases that

Chapter 125.

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of guilt. “I didn’t think you’d find me so quickly,” he mutters, trying to compose himself as he stands up, brushing invisible dust from