Page 55 of Nocturn

“Is the structure circular?” I asked.

“Yes, it surrounds the garden,” Vera answered.

Now that I saw it from above, I had a clearer view of it all. The gardens were much larger than I had thought previously.

“There is also only one way in and one way out,” Hester added. I whipped my head toward her and scanned her eyes.

Did she read minds? Would this be the end of my plotting? I would not be able to help the Resistance. Saints! Now she would know I am helping them.

Panic seized my throat and I struggled to blank my thoughts.

But she looked back out into the garden. “Opposite us is the Lords’ wing, but it is also always heavily guarded.” Her expression soured. “Now we will be just as guarded.”

I swallowed down my panic. She was not reading my mind.

“Come now, Hester, it is not as if she is commanding it.”

“Move along, ladies,” Egan said, and I met his gaze as he waited a few paces ahead with Ida and Branwen.

I gave the garden a final look and kept pace with them down a curving hall that ended at another door. He pulled one of the double doors open. A man pushed off the wall, straightening to his full height, and faced Egan, who stood near the entrance.

Ida was already through the door and upon entering, the wide chamber was set up into a lounging area, settees sitting before the iron window.

I strode directly to it.

The village sprawled in the distance, wrapped around the House of Lords and the Citadel. Sunlight had given way to dusklight, casting orange across the rooftops and throwing the alleys into shadow.

“It is larger than I had thought,” I murmured.

Branwen approached, and I turned to her.

“I trust you will all show Miss Amara to her chamber.”

“Yes, Officer Egan,” they chorused from behind me.

“Send for me if you need anything,” he said, looking directly at me. With that, the door shut.

I turned back to admire the village.

“It is pretty,” I murmured, touching my fingertips to the chilled pane. It would be a cold night.

“And the safest across Sycarious,” Hester added.

No Hollow would dare enter the Kingdom. Not with Lord Draven here.

“Now that he is gone,” Ida announced and approached. She tugged my shoulder, forcing me to turn away from the village. She pointed at my throat. “Why do you have the scars?”

It took me a moment to understand her. I dropped my eyes to her neck, then bounced to the next throat.

None had any bites marring their flesh.

I touched my neck, feeling the raised texture of the Sigil, and the notable roughness where he bit me.

Their necks showed no sign of Lord Draven’s bite.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

House of Lords