Page 127 of Coveted

I thought the patrons at The Bindery took photos to show an interested friend or two. But they were sending them to online accounts?

“Really?” I ask, wanting to sink into the floor.

Damon grunts. “Of course. The Prince of Darkbloom giving the time of day to, well, anyone? That’s big news.”

Lucan lifts his gaze to the ceiling. “Please don’t fucking call me that.”

“Language at the table,” snaps Alexander.

“Gossip comes with the territory,” says Adelle with a shrug. “For better or worse, people care what we do.”

She said we, like I’m included. Like I’m one of them.

But how can I be? I didn’t know student gossip accounts existed until thirty seconds ago. I don’t even know which fork to use.

“Lucan, you should come over to our house,” says Gareth. “See if you want anything of Parker’s. We’re keeping his bedroom as he left it, like Hannah’s. There might be photos you’d like to have, to remember him by.”

Teenie purses her lips, which she tries to conceal by sipping her drink, but I see it.

I think Lucan notices too, because his eyes linger on her before he answers.

“Thank you, uncle,” he says. “But I wouldn’t want to disturb his things.”

“Consider the offer open-ended,” says Gareth. “His room isn’t going anywhere.”

At the end of the night, Lucan takes my hand to ascend the huge white-marble staircase.

“I’ll show you my childhood bedroom.” He pauses. “One of them anyway.”

“I’d like that,” I say.

“Thank you for coming tonight. You did great.”

“You think so?”

“Dad showed you his stamp collection after dinner, which means he adores you. I’m not surprised though. Everyone likes you.”

“Except the person trying to murder me,” I point out.

Lucan’s bedroom is more personalized than I expected. Photos with his family and friends fill the wall over a desk. A school banner hangs over his bed, and his shelves are crammed with books.

Pausing at the desk, I examine the photos. Lucan rarely smiled, even as a child, though he grins in an image alongside a girl and boy with pine trees in the background.

“Hannah and Parker,” I say.

“Summer camp,” says Lucan from behind me.

I turn to him. “That’s so wholesome.”

He shrugs. “You know me. Wholesome through and through.”

Laughter bubbles from my mouth. “Yeah, right.”

“That’s the last year I was allowed to be a kid,” he says thoughtfully, as if he’s realizing it for the first time. “After that summer, my apprenticeship to become Dad’s successor began, full throttle.”

“He wanted to prepare you for what you’d face. That’s nice.”

“Nice? He wanted to secure the family legacy, as my grandfather did with him.”