Page 127 of A Silent Prodigy for the Lycan Princess

*AZURITE*

Istay behind while Night and Junior dash off, unsure what to do and too scared to move. My peace doesn’t last long because Junior comes dashing back. “Azurite,” he bellows, “help search for the kid. She trusts you more than us.”

I nod, crawling out of the bed and dressing again before following Junior. I roam the house with him, calling Opal’s name and looking everywhere. I try to make it believable, whispering encouraging words and promising her no one would be mad and that I would protect her. Junior is clearly content with my performance because he gestures at me to continue.

My heartbeat picks up fearfully every time I hear footsteps. The front door opens and closes several times, and Night’svoice echoes around. Junior and Sky are coming and going. The tension is so thick I’m scared someone will snap anytime.

I am still searching around on my knees in one of the empty rooms, looking in every wardrobe, when all four men come into the room. “Did you find her?” Night snarls at me.

I get up, brushing over my dress. “No,” I whisper. “I’m sorry, Night”

“Fuck,” Night curses before slapping me hard enough to send me flying. I drop to the ground, feeling blood drip down my nose. “Damn it!” He turns to Junior. “You forgot to lock the door!”

“No,” Junior says with a surprising amount of confidence. “I’m sure I locked it.”

Night grabs him by his neck, squeezing it. “Are you?” he hisses.

Junior just gurgles something, trying to nod his head.

“Check your keys,” Night snarls towards them, grabbing his own key, that he wears around his neck together with a necklace with a blue stone in it. They all wear the same.

Junior usually carries his keys on his belt or in his pocket. He successfully pulls it out and shows it to Night. Meanwhile, PJ grabs his bag and goes through it, freezing in shock.

“What is it!?” Night hisses.

“I…” PJ retrieves a key but keeps looking for the other one. “I just have one bundle of keys. The second one is missing. It’s Sky’s.”

I didn’t even know that he had two sets of keys in his bag.

Night pinches the bridge of his nose. “Sky?”

“I didn’t have the key on me, at all,” Sky defends himself, edging away from Night. He still looks disheveled, and his nose looks crooked. “It was in PJ’s bag.”

“Wasn’t one of you bringing her breakfast today?” Junior says, sounding fed up. “She must have stolen the keys then.”

“But… no way,” PJ mutters. “I never take my bag with me. I…” He looks towards me. “I bet it was that bitch.”

Oh shit. I can’t let it affect me, though. I don’t mind if Night kills me, but I’m sure he wouldn’tjustkill me. He would torture me and do even worse things to me than he usually does. “I-I…” I whisper. My eyes are wide, my lips trembling. “But… why would I do that? And how?”

“She is always around us,” PJ snarls. “She is not trustworthy.”

Sky looks anxious. “She has access to everything, doesn’t she?”

“And she got along well with that little kid.”

Junior furrows his brows. “But she does with all the gems,” he mutters. “We always send her to them. And if she brought the key to Opal, why didn’t she run herself?”

Night turns to look at me.

“I belong here. I belong to Night,” I whisper. “I’m Azurite.”

Night turns back to PJ and Sky. “You think I wouldn’t notice if my little gem here betrayed me!?” he hisses. “You think I don’t notice you trying to deflect the blame?” He turns to Sky. “You fucked up twice today. First, you bring me that marked bitch, then you lose your keys.”

He delivers a punch to the man, sending him to the ground. I don’t know why they don’t defend themselves against him. Maybe Night has a power I don’t understand, so neither of them can fight him. He keeps kicking and stomping on Sky until the latter stops moving.

Then he turns to PJ, approaches him, and grabs his face between his hands. “You brought this guy here,” he whispers.

“I apologize,” PJ whispers. “I… he has connections. He is just reckless. I will—”