Page 53 of Third Offense

“About what?” she asked.

“Scouting ideas. How to break routine in the morning. That sort of thing.”

She pursed her lips. “Or you could consider accepting that this is all real.”

“Weren’t you the one who said it felt like a dream the other night?” I replied, arching a brow.

“Well, yes. Because… it does feel that way.”

I nodded. “Which is why I’m scouting. I just want to make sure it’s real, that there isn’t something we’re missing. All right?”

She considered me for a long moment, then nodded. “I’ll talk to my mother. See what information I can learn.”

While I wanted to believe that, I didn’t. Because every other meeting with her mother this week had been a historical lesson filled with very few useful details.

Such as Noir Court etiquette practices.

And a discussion about how the gods used to be worshiped.

All medial things that didn’t apply to thenow. While I was all for learning from history, none of the information her mother had provided had been useful.

Except for that first day when she’d detailed Ketos’s godly traits.

I’d tried to ask more about the different names and powers of the gods the other afternoon, but her mother had shifted the topic to Vasilios and his parents, drawing Layla into a conversation about how the family used to spend time at a lake in our old realm.

Nothing about Vasilios’s powers or his birthright, just details about family vacations that Gaia longed to repeat.

I’d almost brought up the fact that the Nora warriors had been trained about the infamousFallen Noraand their sins, just to try to guide the conversation back to a more relevant subject.

However, Layla had been too busy asking questions about foods the family had enjoyed at the lake.

Which was very out of character for my mate.

She’d been the one who had stated the importance of gleaning information, something I’d wholeheartedly agreed with.

Why was she wasting precious time on foods?

Still, I nodded now, agreeing with her going to talk to her mom. Because maybe today would be more interesting. “We’ll join you there in a bit.”

“All right,” she replied, her nose crinkling as she considered Novak and then me again. “Just… don’t get into trouble. I don’t want to anger our hosts. They’ve been very kind.”

Novak nodded, giving her a dreamy smile that said he would obey her every word.

Meanwhile, I frowned.

This is exactly the fucking problem,I thought as I clenched my fists.

Layla and Novak were acting like fledglings.

That wasn’t the Queen that I knew, nor was that dreamy-eyed male the Prison King.

When Layla left the room and the door closed behind her, I caught Novak by the shoulder.

Because even though she’d just told us that we could stay to talk amongst ourselves, he’d moved to follow her.

“Something is very wrong,” I said.

Novak simply blinked back at me as though in a daze. “Nothing’s wrong.”