Page 137 of The Silent Note

“It seems like we both got our nights interrupted,” Cadence whispers back, pointing to my neck.

“Huh?”

She blushes. “Nothing.”

But it’s too late.

I take out my compact makeup mirror and check my neck. A horrified gasp escapes when I find bruises. The passion marks dot my throat, following the trail that Zane’s lips took earlier.

Heart lurching, I face an amused Cadence.

“It wasn’t like this earlier. I checked,” I explain, feeling like I got caught doing something wrong.

“They tend to get darker with time.” She pats my hand like a wizened old grandmother. “Put your hair down like this.” She motions to her dark hair that’s covering her throat. “Turtlenecks work too.”

My smile wobbles.

I’m getting advice on how to hide love bites from an honors student.Great.

Before I can explain to her that curly hair like mine defies gravity and doesnotfall to my shoulders without a bucket of water and gel, the door opens and The Kings walk in. The air immediately gets sucked out of the room. They’re all tall and regal and seem extra dangerous tonight wearing those serious faces.

“You think they actually left to escort Sol up here?” Cadence whispers to me, her eyes on them. “Or do you think they were having a meeting without us?”

I pin my lips together, not responding. The Kings used to include me in those private meetings. But now that I’m just ‘Zane’s wife’, it looks like they’re treating me like I’m something fragile too.

Sol walks to the center of the room and I’m surprised when he starts the conversation. I was pretty sure that Zane would talk since he’s the one who dragged his brothers and best friend into a meeting in the middle of the night.

“I hear Hall came to you asking for help,” Sol says blandly.

I sit up straight. The dull note of his voice alarms me. Something seemsoffabout him. More off than usual. There are dark circles under his eyes and he’s hiding his hands in his pockets like he doesn’t want us to see them.

“He was asking for mercy,” Zane announces gruffly. He’s standing far away from me, shoulders rigid.

He still looks angry.

“What exactly did he say?” Sol asks, still seeming bored.

“He told me someone’s been following him. That they broke into his room. Stood over him with a knife and threatened him.”

No one seems surprised by that.

No one except Cadence.

She gasps and leans toward me. “Really? Someone threatened him?” Her eyes sharpen and pierce into her husband.

Dutch grunts and shakes his head.

The two glare at each other for a minute and then Cadence’s shoulders relax. “It wasn’t Dutch. So who was it?”

Sol turns those dead black eyes on me. “What matters is that Hall is broken. He’s not going to hurt you again.” He jerks his sharp chin in Zane’s direction. “Or any of us. If you really want to use him, he’ll comply.”

A shudder runs down my spine. Whatever version of Sol is coming out to play tonight, it’s definitely not the one I’d want to meet in a dark alley.

A sudden movement to my left gets my attention. I see Zane stalking around the table. With jerky movements, he shrugs out of his jacket and slips it around me.

“I don’t…” I start to remove the jacket.

He stares down at me and frowns.