Married to the Prince of Darkness (COMPLETED)

Chapter 59

I had been so close to finally telling him my secret, when he took off and left. I stared at the empty corridor and wondered when he would return. Part of me just wanted to get it over and done with so we could move on with our lives. Maybe he would be okay with it, but even if he wasn't then at least I knew. Part of the agony I'd been going through was the uncertainty of not knowing how he was going to react - at least know we'd finally be able to find out.

I pulled myself up off the floor and tenderly touched my lips. They were still aching from where he had kissed me. I'd missed his physically touch so badly, in fact I had never craved anything in this world as much as I craved him - he was like a drug I couldn't live without.

I smoothed my hair over where he had ruffled it up and straightened my clothes out. Any minute now he would return with his personal guards and I would finally get to go to the palace I'd heard so much about. Excitedly I thought about gathering a few things from my bedroom to take with me. I should probably grab the old queen's journal from the hidden room and take it with me.

I ran upstairs and quickly changed into some appropriate clothes and shoe, and found a backpack to store all my items into. Then heading downstairs I entered the reading room and found the knife Henrietta had given me. I wrapped it up in the cloth and placed it into my backpack, ensuring the blade was not going to accidentally cut through the backpack and stab me. I glanced into the sitting room and was surprised to see it was still empty - what was taking Luc so long?

Slipping into the secret room, I found the old queen's journal and tucked it away next to the blade. I searched the room for anything else of interest but found nothing. I returned back to the reading room and thought if there was anything else I might need. The reading room floor was now in complete chaos. There were books, torn pages, and splinters of wood littered across the floor. I used the tip of my shoe to nudge around the piles of debris, searching for anything I may have forgotten. As I pushed aside one piece of fractured door panel, I found the brass key that had been hidden inside the volume of Shakespeare. Picking it up I remembered what the note attached to it had said about this key unlocking a hidden escape. I'm glad I never ended up having to use this, especially since I couldn't even find the damn key hole.

I tossed it back in my bag and began to walk towards the sitting room. Outside heard footsteps and my heart lifted. "Luc," I called out. "Come here, I have something to show you."

I wanted to show him everything that I had found. The books, the key and even the secret room. I excitedly turned the corner to greet him and stopped dead in my tracks. My heart dropped and my breath quickened. Shakily I raised my hand to cover my mouth as I saw Louis' body twitching.

Shit, shit, shit...he wasn't dead.

His head was facing away from me, at an odd angle, and he was struggling to climb up on to his feet. I retreated silently back into the shadows, and carefully walked backwards into the reading room. He was still alive? How could he be still alive! Oh shit, what was I going to do... I could call for help, but Luc might not be in ear shot and I didn't want to reveal my position. Also Louis was right in front of the door way, so it wasn't like I could slip around him either, which meant I was trapped - completely and utterly trapped.

Or was I?

I glanced down at my backpack and saw the brass key glinting at me in the moonlight. I picked it up and went over to the window seat. Outside I could her scratching and growling as Louis sniffed around the sitting room. He was looking for me. Holding my breath I quietly felt around the edge of the seat looking for the secret key hole. Occasionally I'd stop to quickly check over my shoulder that Louis wasn't behind me. My heart was fluttering wildly in my chest like a trapped bird.