Drowning In The Dark: #4 The Veil Series by Pippa DaCosta Read Free Book Online

too much weight into the question. Mentioning Akil within earshot of Stefan was like jumping on thin, cracked ice.
    Stefan’s smile was far from kind. To call it a sneer didn’t do it justice. He smiled like a demon, hungry for the kill. “No, they despise him almost as much as they hate me. They’re afraid of him too.” Pausing, he seemed to mull over his last words. “He knows something that has them rattled. Whatever it is, they’re not happy about it. They suspect Akil was behind the Prince of Envy’s demise. They believe you’re Akil’s tool. They’re all too aware they’ve underestimated him.”
    Didn’t everyone? They were probably right about all of it. Akil had manipulated the events that brought down the Institute. He could easily have steered the Prince of Envy into my path. If I thought about it for long enough, everything could be traced back to Akil. But confirmation that he was on our side had to be good news. At least, he had been on our team, before Adam locked him up. Now his motives were anyone’s guess. I needed to see him, to find out what he knew, to get the answers he owed me. “Akil told me the King of Hell could stop what’s coming. Have you heard anything like that?”
    “No.” By the slight inflection of the word and arch of his brow, I could see I’d clearly piqued Stefan’s curiosity. “Really?”
    I didn’t entirely trust Stefan and wasn’t sure whether any of the information I’d gleaned from Akil would help. It was all sporadic bits of dubious stories, nothing solid. But given the circumstances, rumors and speculation were all we had. “Alright… He told me there had once been a queen and king of the netherworld. When both ruled, they’d maintained a balance. But the queen killed the king, and the princes turned on her... That was pretty much when the netherworld went to hell.” I left out the part where I believed Akil was the king. He had told me the true king was hiding, but Akil hid the truth in plain sight. Stefan and Akil were destined to kill each other, like two freight trains on the same track. It was an unavoidable fact. I needed to keep them apart, especially if the so-called king could stop the demons.
    “There’s a King of Hell?” Stefan had the same look on his face I must have had when I discovered the princes weren’t the worst the netherworld had to offer: an expression of abject shock and awe. “And Akil knows where he is?” I nodded. “That’s why the princes fear him. Do you know where Akil is?”
    “Yeah, I do.” I hedged. “But I don’t want to tell you, especially after what you’ve said about who’s in your driver’s seat. Trust me, okay. Don’t ask. I’ll get to the bottom of the king rumors. If there’s truth in it, I’ll tell you.”
    He nodded. “I do trust you.”
    “Really?”
    “Sure. Life is pretty simple now that the demon has control. Our past is irrelevant.”
    There was so much wrong with his words that I pinned my lips closed and shoved the shock aside. It shouldn’t be that simple. Human beings are made up of turmoil. We challenge ourselves, we second-guess, we doubt, we live, we love, and we’re complicated, messy, and outright destructive. Stefan’s words denied all of that. Our past wasn’t irrelevant. It was right here in the room with us, but he didn’t feel it. That was how he was able to sit and chat like nothing had happened. He no longer cared.
    I busied myself tidying away the breakfast neither of us had eaten so he couldn’t see the despair tugging at my face. “I guess you’re leaving again?”
    “I need to get closer to Val’s half-bloods to see what we’re up against. I might be able to buy us more time.”
    The thought of Stefan confronting my brother had my stomach fluttering with nerves. “Watch Val’s wings. They’re lethal.”
    “So are mine,” he said from too close behind me. I turned, just enough to see he’d moved from the window to the breakfast bar, and was close