Her Hidden Half (War Songs of the Courts #1)

Chapter Thirty-one

I glued myself to the edge of the wall when the sound of Alaisdair's footsteps were abruptly cutoff. I held my breath and waited, hoping he hadn't noticed me following him. The silence continued, lacking the distinct feeling of presence and I inched closer to the corner. Confused, I peeked around the edge, slumping when I saw nothing but an empty hallway.

Hoping I hadn't completely lost him, I walked to the end of the hallway and leaned next to the only door it lead to, listening for any sign of a presence. Not able to make anything out, I sighed in acceptance and turned to go back but the sound of low murmuring froze me in my place. I slowly spun on the heel of my foot and tilted my head at the door, considering it. I looked back cautiously before lifting my ear to the door carefully.

Alaisdair's voice came through, muffled by the door as I leaned harder on it. "... don't understand what I was doing here. I'm not a guard, yet the King threw this job at me with little to no information and now you're removing me just as fast? What is this all really about?"

Wait, what? Alaisdair's wasn't a guard?

My brow pulled together in confusion as I continued to listen.

"We're very aware of what you usually do, and we agree, the King made a mistake assigning you here. This is us correcting that mistake. You'll be back to what you do best just as soon as you return," replied a woman's husky voice.

I squinted at her voice and listened more intently, sure I knew that voice.

There was a pause and just as it became worrying, I heard Alaisdair speak, his voice low and hard, "I told the King I was done with that. I thought he understood that when he sent me here."

What the hell did he do before this?

A light laugh sent a chill down my spine even through the door. "You thought he sent you here to actually protect that girl? Really? No, the King needed your particular kind of talents here. You were a backup plan of his. It was his mistake for thinking such drastic measures would ever be necessary. We've spoken to him and he understands that now."

It hit me. That voice, it belonged to Faith. I swallowed a curse that sat ready at the back of my throat. He was talking to the Council. Why the hell would he have a meeting with the Council.

"I see," Alaisdair said, his voice hard and devoid of emotion.

"But before you return, we have a job for you," another woman I recognized as Addison said.

"I don't suppose I could decline this job offer, could I?"

"No," she replied definitively, a hint of delight in her voice.

The soft voice of a man interrupted, clearly still annoyed with Addison, "We need you to find a vampire, discreetly."

"Just find?"

"Yes. Anything more is unnecessary."

"Who is it?"

"Demetrius," a monotone voice replied.

Instinctively, I knew it who had spoken and it sent a chill through me.

"You can't be serious."

"Oh, we're very serious," Addison spoke up again.

"That's not something I can do and you know it," Alaisdair said, sounding almost nervous despite the hard edge his voice held.

A creeping silence met him that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on their ends.

"What if we told you we could arrange a different profession for you when you returned to Court?" Faith said, making me imagine her cold, cunning eyes narrowed in on Alaisdair.