Page 143 of A Silent Prodigy for the Lycan Princess

Before Coralie can retort , we can hear noises at the door. Coralie jumps up, making sure to stand in front of me. Both of us tense up when the door opens. In comes a skinny girl with brown hair. There is a hint of red to her hair when the light from the lamp falls on it. She has brown eyes that look at us dull and lifeless, as if all strength has left them.

Her wrists are so thin they might just break if someone grabs her.

“Hello,” she says in a hoarse voice. “I’m Azurite.”

Coralie and I exchange a gaze. “Hello,” I say. “I’m Léna, and that’s Coralie.”

“You are not gems,” she mutters more to herself than to us. “If you are not gems, why are you here?”

Again, Coralie and I look at each other.

“Have you heard from Opal?” Azurite asks.

“Who?” I ask, confused.

Azurite looks sad. “Oh,” she mutters. “Well, it can’t be helped. She was like you.”

“Imprisoned here?” Coralie asks bluntly.

Azurite tilts her head to the side. “Potential gemstones,” she says as if she isn’t hearing us.

“Did they abduct you too?” I ask her.

“I—” she pauses, furrowing her brows. “I don’t know.”

“And Azurite is really your name?” Coralie asks. “Isn’t that the name of a gemstone?”

“A gemstone,” Azurite says, shaking her head and looking at us, fear suddenly filling her eyes. “Don’t make them angry,” she whispers. “Don’t make Night angry. He is evil when he gets angry.” She dashes forward to grab Coralie’s hands. “Please don’t make him angry.”

Coralie is at a complete loss, so I decide to help her out. I don’t know how to handle this situation either, but this girl looks like she is close to completely losing it. “We won’t anger him,” I promise her.

She looks at me relieved. “Thank you.”

“I don’t know who you are,” I say. “But I promise our friends are trying to find us. And once they do, they will save us, you too.”

“It has never happened before,” she says absent-mindedly. “No one has come to save anyone.” She shakes her head before opening the bag she is carrying. “Here,” she says, her eyes dull again. “I brought you food.”

Chapter forty-five

The Bait

*AURELIA*

Eric looks at us with a frown. “Tell me, how much or how little did you sleep last night?”

“They didn’t sleep at all,” Emilien points out. “Despite me trying to make them.”

“Fantastic,” Eric mutters. “So, the whole team is probably exhausted to the bone.”

“Technically, the adrenaline rush kept us awake,” Arden points out. “After an adrenaline rush, it’s almost impossible to sleep. Besides, a human can last almost eleven days without sleep… though after the third or fourth, hallucinations and other serious side-effects would kick in, so we shouldn’t push it that much.”

Eric looks something between annoyed and resigned, while I chuckle. “You are grinning now,” he mutters to me, “but, just wait til you two argue. Then it won’t be that funny anymore.”

Arden looks at me confused, while I just take his hand and squeeze it. “Don’t worry,” I say to Eric, winking. “I know how to win my mate over.”

“Goddess.” He rolls his eyes. “Yeah, a match made in heaven, truly.” He clears his throat. “So, what do we have?”

“Guillaume LaRue was actually gamma of his pack,” Emilien explains. “A very skilled warrior, wealthy, elitist, and a collector of…” He looks at Eric expectantly.