Faustine by Imogen Rose Read Free Book Online Page B

intently.
    “Yes, we were there at the time of the murder,” I admitted.
    “Thank goodness you weren’t harmed! Why didn’t you tell me? Were you there, Ryker?”
    “Yes.” He proceeded to bring her up to date, describing the scream and the ensuing scramble for the exit, but omitting the part about the vision Audrey had described to us. “So, I brought her home,” he finished.
    “Thank you, Ryker. I appreciate that. The article doesn’t go into any details. While it mentions that the body was found in the men’s room, it doesn’t say anything more. I’m just relieved that you–all of you–are okay,” she said, looking from me to Ryker. “Do you have any plans today, Faustine? You can hang out with me, if you want. I’m going to Marylin’s this afternoon for tea. She would be delighted to see you.”
    Did I ever have plans! “Mom, thanks, but I’m going to hang with Ryker and Neave today, if that’s okay with you.”
    “Of course it is. But remember that you have school tomorrow; you’ll need to get organized for that.”
    “Which reminds me, Mom. I invited some girls from school to come over for breakfast tomorrow. That’s okay, right?”
    “Yes, of course.”
    It would’ve been nice to have had the day just to hang with Ryker. No such luck. After breakfast, I went down to the basement for a debriefing. Alone, because that’s what Luke had instructed.
    When I arrived, I was surprised to see that Luke had company. Dorian was sitting on the couch looking grim. Awesome–not.
    They both stood up when I entered. “Princess, let’s go to the conference room,” Dorian said, as he led the way. Once we were seated, he glared at me. “Princess, I can’t begin to tell you how unhappy I am with your decision not to go back to London, especially after last night’s events.”
    “What do you think is going on?” I asked. “Who wrote the note on the wall and why?”
    “We can hypothesize, but we have no real information.”
    “Hypothesize away,” I encouraged.
    “It could be whoever has your dad, if he has indeed been captured or killed. The potential candidates for that are too numerous to mention. Another possibility is that it’s one of your half siblings, annoyed that you are the chosen heir.”
    “Just perfect. So now what? Do we know who the victim was?”
    “Yes, sort of, but no name. The police report indicates that it was a male student from Columbia University. I’m guessing he was an innocent bystander who just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.”
    “Can you tell from Audrey’s description of the victim’s body what kind of being may have been involved?”
    “No. Audrey’s description of mangled is too vague. It could be anyone–vampire, shifter, demon, even another human. However, we are pretty certain it wasn’t another human based on the note.”
    “So, what now?” I asked, looking at them both.
    “Are you still refusing to travel to London, or even move in here, until we figure out what’s going on?”
    “Yes. I’m going to school tomorrow.”
    “We’ll do our best to keep you safe. We’ve asked Ryker to keep an eye on you as well, since you seem to have become attached to him.”
    “About that... um, how do I, um, control bouts of, you know, burning...?” O-M-G, that was so embarrassing to ask!
    Luke collapsed into a heap of chuckles while his dad raised his brows in confusion.
    “Luke?” his father queried.
    “Never mind, Dad. I’ll help the Princess with that later,” he said, winking at me. Sigh.
    “Okay. Let’s talk about this afternoon’s meeting.” Dorian continued. He proceeded to give me a breakdown of the various leaders who would be attending.
    “What do you think they’ll want from me?” I asked once he was done.
    “They’ll expect you to fulfill the obligations of the demon sovereign,” he said.
    “Which are?”
    He pushed a heavy, leather-bound book toward me. “This is it. It’s all in there.”
    “Give me the