28. Ivy
Chapter 28
Ivy
He knows…
The blood drains from my body and all the pleasure I felt only moments ago evaporates into the thin air.
As Thorne stares down at me waiting for an answer, I’m reminded of just how crazy he is.
Damn it. He knew. He fucking knew this whole time— for days .
He probably knew I was trying to access the Knights database right from when I was still standing by his computer. And he allowed me to believe…
Believe what, Ivy?
That he didn’t know?
“Please don’t deny it. I checked the history on the files when you left that day. I know you tried to access it.”
“So you played me by bringing me here?” I feel foolish again.
“You know that part wasn’t a game. This is, though.”
Like this —naked and chained to the bed with his cum leaking down my thighs from my ass—I feel vulnerable as hell.
And I’m embarrassed. I’m embarrassed by my situation and embarrassed he caught me and called me out.
“Undo the chains now, Thorne.”
“No. Not until you tell me what you wanted. It’s to do with your father, isn’t it?”
“Undo the chains.”
“Tell me.”
“Or what, you’ll leave me like this and get your uncle?”
“Like fuck. You’re mine. No one gets to see you like this but me.” He looks infuriated that I would even suggest such a thing. “Tell me what you wanted.”
I weigh my options and realize I don’t have any.
I never did. Besides, isn’t it easier to tell him what I need from the database now that he knows what I was trying to do?
This is not about me. It’s about my father.
“Undo my chains and I’ll tell you. I don’t want to talk to you like this. It’s serious.”
Thorne stares at me for a moment, contemplating.
Relief washes over me when he lowers to undo my chains. I’m even more relieved when he allows me to get off the bed and go to the bathroom to clean myself off.
I return to the room moments later and pull on my nightshirt. Thorne watches me with the keenness of a fox, his eyes following me as I pad back over to the bed.
I sit on the edge and he pulls up the chair next to it so he’s sitting in front of me.
“I’m waiting, little deer.”
I blow out a ragged breath. “I wanted to check the database because I’m looking for someone.”
He sits straighter and narrows his eyes. “Who would you be looking for?”
“It’s a man. I was at the palace on the night of the attack with my father.”
Thorne’s eyes widen. “What?”
“My mother was a surgeon. She had to go back to the hospital to work that night, so my father took me to work with him.”
“You saw what happened?”
“Not enough to do anything to save my father. He left me in a room to sleep. The sound of gunfire woke me, so I hid in the secret passage. A man came into the room…” My breath catches as my mind fills with the haunting memory of the scar-faced man. It’s been almost ten years since I had to tell this story so it’s hard.
“The man had a deep scar on his face.” I pause for a beat and blink past the painful memories. “My father’s friend, another guard, came in after him, and the man with the scar killed him. He said he was going to kill everyone, then he carved out his heart.”
Thorne stands but there’s something more than shock on his face. It looks like… recognition.
“Did he say anything when he took the guard’s heart? The man with the scar on his face.”
“Yes, some strange foreign words. Valin mortilum dohaliues.”
“Jesus.” Thorne touches his cheek and stares at me, searching my eyes. “Say those words again.”
“ Valin mortilum dohaliues. I don’t know if I’m saying it right. That’s what it sounded like to me.”
“Yes. Those are the words.” He’s speaking to himself. He moves over to the window and stares out at the night. “ Valin… mortilum dohaliues...”
“Thorne…”
He turns back to face me. “You thought the scar-faced was a Knight?”
“He had the tattoos. I know he was a Knight.” I didn’t know it was possible for Thorne to turn pale, but he has.
“You’re absolutely sure?”
“I’m positive. I remember everything I saw that night.” My breath catches as my lungs constrict from the angst wrapping around them. “That man was a Knight, and he was responsible for the attack. That’s why I believe my father is innocent. He was set up.”
“If that’s true… then your father really had nothing to do with the massacre at the palace or the plot to kill my family two years before.”
“No. He didn’t.”
His head drops for a moment, then his gaze climbs back up to meet mine. “I’ve seen the scar-faced man, too.”
I stand now and stare at him, shock slamming into my body. “You have? Where?”
“He was at my home in Russia on the night of the attack. I hid in the closet and watched him carve out the hearts of my guards. But I didn’t see his tattoos. So I never knew he was a Knight.”
“Oh my God.” My body feels like lead. Like it might topple over from the weight of this revelation and never move again.
“It’s the same guy, Ivy. He said those same words. Valin mortilum dohaliues.”