Chapter 36
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
acelynn
It had been days since I had last seen or heard from Kaius. I wouldn’t say he was avoiding me, but that might be giving myself too much credit. Kaius wouldn’t stay away from his own bar and the Knights just because he felt something toward me.
The rush at the Queen’s Table had finally bled out into the streets for the night, leaving the bar with the strange after-hours quiet.
A couple of regulars nursed the last of their beers in the corner, too stubborn to leave a drop behind, but even their voices were muffled under the slow, melancholy hum of a jazz track dripping from the speakers.
“I’m going to take this out,” I called toward Astoria.
The trash bag was heavy in my hands as I yanked it out from under the counter, the bag slick and bulging, like it might split at the seams any second.
The smell of sour beer, citrus rinds, and something oddly metallic clung to the inside of my nose.
Astoria nodded once at me before turning back to counting the till.
To say it had been awkward between us the last few shifts would be an understatement, but there had never been a good time to speak with her.
Maybe tonight we could clear the air because, as much as I hated to admit it, I missed Astoria.
I shoved open the back door, bracing against the harsh heat of the night. The alley was still, lit only by a flickering streetlight that buzzed overhead. The dumpster creaked open, and I tossed the bag into its darkness.
That’s when I noticed it. At the far end of the narrow alley, the basement doors were swung open. I knew for a fact that none of the boys would just leave that open for anyone to venture into. My feet moved quickly toward the shadowed doorway.
“Hello?” I called out, staring down into the basement’s depths, waiting for someone to jump out and ask me what I was doing, but no one came. Crossing the invisible barrier, I took the stairs two at a time, letting the coolness of the underground bunker chill my heated skin.
Everything in me told me to leave. To go back to the bar and pretend I hadn’t seen it.
But curiosity didn’t work like that. I reached up, fingers searching for the string to the overhead light, pulling once when I found it and illuminating the entire space.
Nothing looked out of place, all the vials perfectly aligned, and the discarded remnants of something Vince had been working on scattered across the worktable.
But still, I couldn’t get the gnawing feeling that this was some sort of trap out of my mind.
“What are you doing?” Astoria’s high-pitched voice startled me.
I whipped around, facing the girl as she descended the last steps.
“That door was open,” I stammered, pointing one finger toward the entryway. “I thought this was maybe another dry storage unit that someone forgot to close up.”
“You always seem to be sniffing around where you don’t belong.
” She crossed both arms over her chest as she glared at me.
I took her in for the first time tonight.
Her light-colored hair was pulled back into a claw clip, a few loose strands framing her face.
She didn’t look like she had worked a moment tonight, makeup still perfectly intact.
She let out a laugh. “You know what? Save whatever other excuse you have for me. That Polaroid told me everything I needed to know about you.”
“Enough with the Polaroid, Astoria!” I screamed at her, my patience wearing thin. “Did you ever stop to think maybe I had an explanation for what was in that picture?”
“Careful, sweetheart. Some secrets you can’t take back if you dig them up,” Astoria sneered at me.
I rolled my eyes at the girl. “Cut the tough girl act.”
“Well, go on.” Astoria motioned with her hands to continue. “Try to explain away the obvious.”
“Like you have any room to talk, Miss ‘I’m having secret meetings with strange men outside my brother’s nightclub.’” I shot her a knowing look.
Her face became flushed with anger, but she didn’t say anything more.
I continued, “I was being questioned about the Knights by those two detectives when that picture was taken. They caught wind that I was now working for Kaius as a bartender and were trying to grill me about what goes on in the bar.”
“And what did you tell them?” Astoria narrowed her eyes at me.
“Well, considering I had barely even started working here, there was nothing to tell.” I shrugged nonchalantly. Astoria went to speak, but I cut her off. “Even if I did know what I do now, I wouldn’t have said anything. I wouldn’t betray you like that.”
“You mean you wouldn’t betray my brother like that?” Astoria grumbled. She stepped back, taking a seat on the bottom step of the stairs.
I stepped forward. “No. I mean, I wouldn’t betray you, Astoria. Yes, I am seeing your brother, if you can even call it that, but you’re my best friend, Astoria, and that means something to me.”
She peered up at me through her lashes. “I am sorry for holding this over your head instead of just asking you. There has been a lot going on in my head, and I might have gotten a tad jealous that my brother has been stealing all your time.”
“It’s fine,” I said, the corners of my mouth quirking up into a small smile. “You gonna tell me what you were doing at the club the other night?”
Astoria’s entire face flushed red in embarrassment. “I, uh…I was meeting up with an old fling, but I didn’t want you to say anything to my brother and it get back to Nolan.”
“Will you two stop skating around each other and finally sleep together?” I joked, throwing my hands in the air.
She groaned, leaning back against the stairs and throwing her head back.
“I mean, seriously, I have never seen two people so in love with each other refuse to admit it.”
“You’re one to talk,” Astoria gasped at me. “My brother and you are sleeping with each other, but can’t even admit that they might feel something in their cold, dead hearts.”
I barked out a laugh, but it was cut off by heavy stomps coming down the stairs. Astoria shot up from her spot, turning just in time to see her brother come into view.
“What the hell is going on?” Kaius’s voice boomed with lethal precision. His jaw was tight, the vein in his temple faintly visible. “You want to explain to me why the two of you are lurking around down here, Astoria?”
“The door was open when we went to take the trash out,” Astoria said, her voice sickly sweet as she batted her eyelashes at her brother. “I wanted to make sure nothing was wrong, but didn’t want to leave Acelynn up there all alone.”
“Alone?” Kaius narrowed his eyes at her. “Next to the bar she works at every night?”
“Well, I mean—”
“Stop,” Kaius’s voice cracked through the air. We both froze in place, waiting for him to continue. His gaze moved from Astoria to mine, unblinking. “You both are hiding something, and I will not stand here and be lied to.”
He spoke like it were a fact, like he could smell the deceit on the two of us. Kaius moved down one step. “And I don’t have the patience to play guessing games.”
Astoria looked down at her hands, her jaw tightening as if she were fighting back tears. I held the man’s stare even as my pulse was pounding, the heat of his scrutiny making my skin itch.
“We were planning a surprise party for Josie’s birthday,” I said casually.
Kaius narrowed his glare on me, waiting for me to crack under its pressure.
“Her birthday is in a few days, correct?”
“Josie doesn’t celebrate her birthday.” He cocked his head to the side. “Does she, Astoria?”
Astoria only responded with a meek nod. I sighed, pulling his attention back to me. “Who doesn’t celebrate their birthday?”
“Someone who wants to bury their past life,” Kaius snapped at me. The venom in his voice made me jump slightly. He didn’t give me a chance to respond, jerking his chin toward the doors. “Upstairs. Now.”
I didn’t speak. I didn’t even dare to breathe.
Every instinct in my body screamed that I should flee, yet I remained frozen, tethered by the pressure of Kaius’s hand against the small of my back.
It was firm, unyielding, yet deceptively gentle—the kind of touch that could control without overt force.
My stomach knotted in a mess of nerves, anxiety, and something darker, something I didn’t want to name even to myself.
Behind us, Astoria stirred, her movement barely audible.
The faint scrape of her shoes was the only reminder that I wasn’t alone, but I didn’t dare draw her attention, not now, not while Kaius’s eyes cut through the space like twin blades.
The stairs groaned beneath our weight, each step resounding like a drumbeat that matched the erratic thrum in my chest. I held on to the railing as though it were the only thing keeping me anchored.
Kaius moved like a predator in his element, smooth and precise, his dark eyes scanning every inch of the stairwell as if he could see the very secrets hidden in the shadows.
Every step I took felt measured against his presence, a silent acknowledgment that nothing, absolutely nothing, would go unnoticed tonight.
When we reached the back hall, he paused and turned to face his sister.
“Astoria,” he said, voice calm, unwavering, yet edged with authority. “Go wait at the bar. We’ll talk later.”