"Julie was on your floor, sir."
She could feel her heart grow heavy, terror in her spine. She had half-expected this, and yet, it felt so terrible to confront.
"But that was my fault, sir. I was giving her a tour, and I got distracted. She was excited to learn about the mansion so she could serve you well. I have warned her that your floors are off-limits and she won't make the same mistake again."
Wait.
He just covered up for her?
Then she heard a thud, and when she looked back, Louie was on his knees. "I will receive the punishment. The fault is mine."
Punishment?
Idalia blinked, her mind going over the thought she had earlier when she found that none of the doors on his floor were locked.
What was he doing to workers that made them so blindly obedient? Different horrific thoughts went through her mind, but somehow, she felt that whatever it was, it was far worse.
Mr. Lythoryn hummed, a glint of something unreadable in his eyes. "Theon?"
Theon stepped forward.
"Take him home. He is tired, let him… rest." There was an emphasis on the last word, and Idalia watched Louie go rigid.
It suddenly dawned on Idalia. This was a possibility that she hadn't considered. That Louie would cover up for her and be punished for it. His offer of friendship felt real at that moment, and a root of alliance to him sprang in her.
If he were the only one for her in this mansion, she couldn't risk losing him to this 'rest'.
"I'll take my punishment," she jumped in, stepping between Theon and Louie.
"Stay out of this!" Louie hissed at her.
Stunned, she couldn't move. Theon easily side-stepped her to reach Louie. He helped Louie to his feet, and with an almost silent goodbye from Theon to Idalia, they headed to the door.
Louie did not look at her, not even once.
The main door clicked closed; they had left, and she was alone with Mr. Lythoryn.
"What is he going to do to him? What is going on?" Idalia found herself saying before she could even stop herself.
His hard gaze fell upon her.
There was a shift in the air.
A sense of fear gripped her, so powerful that she dropped to her knees.
"I'm sorry. It was a mistake. I won't go to your floor again. Please don't punish Louie. The punishment is mine, let me serve it."
Mr. Lythoryn stepped forward, with her gaze planted on the floor; she could see the reflection of the light bouncing off his black shoes.
"Stand. Up."
It was an order.
She rose up to her feet, her movement a little clumsy. She would feel this terror squeezing her lungs again. His presence always unsettled her.
"Where is the little one?"
"You will not punish him, he's not—"
"I asked you a question, Miss Summers."
She gulped. "Upstairs. And— I—I think he needs me—"
But before she could run up the stairs, he stood in her path, blocking her escape.
She backed away; the unexpected closeness feeling jarring and dangerous.
"I don't hear him crying. Do you, Miss Summers?"
She shook her head. Her eyes, though, didn't move to the raven; the knowledge of that cursed black bird was on his shoulder, unsettled her. Especially now that she knew some of what it was capable of.
"Then he doesn't need you." His voice dropped lower, his presence before her, a towering threat. "But I do."
A chill ran down her spine, and her nails dug into her palms.
"Come with me."
He said and went up the stairs.
She followed as he led her up and up and up…
To his floor.
——
——
His floor was forbidden.
Why would he take her there?
Her heart kept racing as she watched him open the door to the first room. Then he looked at her and said, "After you."
A sudden urge to just run away washed over her. His actions were so confusing, and she felt that they had the undertone of a threat.
But his order felt imperative, and her legs moved before she even decided that they would.
She found herself inside the room, and he shut the door behind him.
Trapped.
The room had felt suffocating before. Now Mr. Lythoryn was here, it felt even worse.
The room looked just as orderly as she had met it the first time. She doubted he would notice what exactly she had done here, nor would he notice that she came here to begin with.
He pulled out the chair opposite the mirror —the only chair in the room, and looked at her. "Please, sit, Miss Summers."
She nodded and took her seat, thereby backing the room.
She watched his reflection from the mirror as he moved fluidly around the room, taking off his jacket, hanging it on the wall, rolling his sleeves, pulling off his tie, unbuttoning his first two buttons, and adjusting his glasses.
By Argon, why did she just watch him do mundane things?
It felt invasive.
She averted her gaze, annoyed.
"Qzil taush 'akl."
The foreign language jarred her back to reality. He was making some calls on his phone, in the strangest language that Idalia didn't even know existed.
The words sounded cold, too.
What could he be saying?
Was he something about her and Arik? But he wasn't even looking at her right now.
While this happened, she couldn't help but panic even more.
What was going on?
Why had he brought her here?
One thing that gave her a little relief, though, was noticing that the bird was gone.
Her eyes settled on him through the mirror, and she concluded that his actions were just a form of psychological torture warfare, a play at dominance.
Why else would he be doing this? That was fine; she would react appropriately and get out of this room as soon as possible. She missed Arik already. Everything was always better with her son.
Soon enough, the call was over.
"Did you have a lovely day, Miss Summers?" She watched him set his phone on the bedstand. "I hope work hasn't been hectic?"
"There is hardly any work to do; you are a very tidy person. Mr. Lythoryn."
"That is unfortunate." He was walking closer to her now, his gaze holding hers in the mirror. "I must fill your time with something so you don't get bored and busy yourself with the wrong things."
He stopped directly behind her chair, and she attempted to stand up to put some distance between them, but his eyes became colder, and something in the air stilled.
She sat back down. "Louie has kept me busy with tours and lessons on how to use the appliances." The words stumbled through her lips. This man terrified her, and she couldn't even tell why that happened. Could it be something about their science? "He has been teaching me many new things and the rules. It was my fault—"
When he reached out his hand from behind and placed some pictures on the table, she froze.
Rage through her at the gruesome images, and her heart filled with complete agony. But the hardest thing of all right now was trying to keep her face calm, like nothing was happening.
Like none of this concerned her.
"There were more deaths in Cider and in the district next to Cider. You know of Starford?"
Of course, she did. To the humans, Starford was the second poorest district in Valmere. To the Sanctuary, however, it was something completely different.
The members of the Sanctuary were divided into two classes. They were the Houses and the High Houses. There were seven High Houses, and they were the leaders of the Sanctuary. All the High Houses were in Starford, while the other houses were usually in Cider. For Alpha Kalio to have attacked Starford, then this betrayer had told him of the Sanctuary's structure and where they resided.
Her eyes scanned the pictures again as he spread them across the table.
Killed just like Grandpa Alfred, only with the additional step of decapitating heads and placing them right next to the bodies.
She knew the faces in those pictures; two were from the High Houses, and the rest of the five were from the other houses.
Why hadn't the Sanctuary enforced their plan B and gone into hiding already? They would have figured out that there was a betrayer amongst them after Grandpa Alfred's death. They were not stupid!
Except…
If the betrayer was part of the High Houses and already knew of the Plan B. Which didn't make sense because every member of the High House knew that she stayed with Grandpa Alfred. Despite the story that they both made to live a lie, every member of the High House knew the truth.
So what exactly was going on?! Who exactly was betraying them?! And what exactly would Alpha Kalio do next?!
Then again, why was Mr. Lythoryn bringing these pictures to her?
What did he know?