Chapter 21 #2
Somehow, Frederick Triton now had access to this token from Alpha Blue, the one that had lived in my parents’ mansion since I was young.
I didn’t believe in coincidences—not with this.
All this time, I’d been wondering what they could’ve wanted in a union between our two families.
What Frederick Triton could need that my family had.
Sure, we had money and access to the human side of the wealthy in Peregrine City, but so did many others.
Not everyone had access to Alpha Blue like the Durand family did, though.
I was going to be sick. Who was Triton trafficking? Who would he disappear? Too easily, answers emerged.
Anyone who’d escaped New Atlantis. People like Jason, who had left, searching for a better life on the surface than the pain he’d dealt with down below.
Oh, fuck.
I bit my lower lip and set the token down on the shelf again before I dropped it.
The second I did, my hands started to tremble.
If I married Arielle, I’d be complicit in this.
I’d be enabling him to hurt more of the sea monsters up here.
Did Ursuline know? They couldn’t possibly.
My throat tightened as panic rose with a steady thump, thump, thump.
I had to tell them. I didn’t have concrete proof, but the pit in my gut was unerring. This was the confirmation I’d been waiting for, the signal.
And I needed to follow it.
Voices sounded from farther down the hall, and my heart jackknifed. Oh fuck.
If I was discovered here, I’d be buried.
I ducked beneath the desk, curling myself into the tight area. My knees pressed hard against the wooden sides, barely any space here. Yet I slowed my breath, focusing on quieting it as much as possible. The voices grew louder by the second.
Ones I recognized.
Arielle and her mother, Darla.
Adrenaline surged through me, tingling through my extremities, but I couldn’t budge.
There wasn’t a secret exit here, and they were heading down the only hallway out.
The footsteps pounded louder, and I tensed, not wanting to move an inch, to risk discovery.
All it would take was for them to slow while they strolled past the office.
Guaranteed, I could be seen beneath the desk if anyone looked hard enough.
And if they found me, I was in deep trouble.
I never should’ve been poking around back here. I should’ve listened to Jacques and got out the first chance I could. My palms began to sweat, but I didn’t dare wipe them or make any movements.
The voices became clear enough to hear now, so I sucked in a slow, steady breath and closed my eyes, just listening.
“They’ve been here more than ever,” Arielle complained. “And you can’t claim it’s because you have an overabundance of contracts for them to work on.”
“If they’re spending time around Elrich, does it matter?” Darla asked. “It’s not as if you want to be saddled with him more than necessary.”
“Tell that to Papa,” Arielle grumbled. “He tried to send Elrich to the club with me last night.” My stomach curdled at the disgust in her tone, so different from the perpetual cheeriness she usually delivered my way. It reaffirmed the decision that settled deep inside me.
I needed to leave.
“You know the importance of appearance,” Darla chided her.
“Oh?” Arielle shot back. “Then tell that to Ursuline. How does public appearance view a cecaelia lurking around my fiancé all the time?”
“It’s better they’re occupied,” Darla responded, the footsteps so close they had to be right near the door. I barely dared to breathe. “We don’t want them asking questions. There’s a reason they’re prohibited from going back down to New Atlantis.”
My blood chilled. Darla said the phrase so casually, but I knew why Ursuline had to stay up here. Why they’d been tied to the Triton family for so long.
What was the family hiding from them?
“Ugh,” Arielle said. “I don’t understand why you two have clung onto them for so long. With the money you have, there are a million and one lawyers out there.”
“Even the highest sum can’t beat contracted loyalty,” Darla said as her voice sounded right outside the room. The breath caught in my throat, and I didn’t dare expel it. My whole body froze as I tensed, waiting to get caught. For one of them to pause and sense that I hid here.
“Whatever,” Arielle said. “I’m just saying other options are out there.”
Their footsteps continued past the door, and their chat didn’t pause, but my ears rang, my mind buzzing from the conversation. My hands were slick with sweat, my breath stuck in my throat, ready to burst out, and my muscles taut, as if I’d need to run any second now.
Their discussion grew quieter as they walked farther down the hall, and the creak of a door echoed before the sounds hushed.
I let out my held breath.
What were they hiding from Ursuline down in New Atlantis? My gut soured. Hearing Arielle talk like that in private had shown me more about her personality than I’d seen in the entire span of time I’d been here. And I couldn’t marry someone like that, even if it were in name only.
I definitely couldn’t further this despicable family’s aims.
I couldn’t stay.
But would Ursuline? I chewed on my lower lip until I tasted copper. The quiet remained for minutes, enough time that I dared to crawl out from where I’d stuffed myself under the desk. If they emerged again, I’d run into worse trouble. Better I try to escape now.
My limbs creaked as I rose to a stand and tiptoed over to the door. My heart thrummed. At any moment, if Arielle and her mother headed back this way, I was screwed. And neither of them held me in any sort of regard, based on their discussion. I swallowed hard and peeked past the doorframe.
The hall was clear to the left and clear to the right.
Before I could second-guess myself, I plunged back down to the right, traveling the way I came.
My shoulders prickled as I walked as quietly as possible along the corridor. Please don’t come back out. Please don’t find me.
My hands trembled, and my breaths were shallow and shaky. I bypassed the open rooms from before, along with the closed doors, trying to remain silent, wary of the floor beneath me. Sweat trickled down my back, tickling the whole way.
Up ahead lay the staircase leading down, along with the reading room. If I could just get there…
I quickened my pace—not quite a run, but a fast, silent stride.
I lunged forward, right in front of the doors leading to the reading room.
A creak sounded from farther down the hall I’d come from. My whole body tensed. Fuck.
Except I was clearly in sight. I whipped around to face that direction.
Arielle poked her head out, her long ponytail swinging with the movement.
I offered a wave, hoping she didn’t notice how my limbs trembled.
She gave a polite wave back before flouncing to another room in the hallway—probably hers.
The second her door shut, I sagged with relief.
I reached for the railing of the staircase and gripped it tight, just to keep myself from swaying forward.
I was drenched with sweat, my shirt plastering to my chest. Snooping in the area the Triton family inhabited hadn’t been my brightest idea.
And I’d come too close to being discovered.
However, I had more information than I’d started with today.
I needed to plan my escape. No other option existed. And yet, the idea of leaving Ursuline behind squeezed my chest hard, pain radiating through me. But if Darla’s words held weight, staying wouldn’t just be dangerous for me.
Ursuline was in trouble too.