The Stains of the Crown

Chapter Thirty Two

Trigger warnings: conversations about past violence, domestic abuse, and emotional abuse.

"Does Echo know you guys were fucking?" Delilah asks when I enter the hallway.

"She gave us permission to, but no, she doesn't know that we were sleeping together."

"Where is she?" I sigh.

"She was attacked this morning. She's okay, but she was knocked unconscious."

"Is the baby okay?" she asks, worry etched into her voice.

"Yeah. Ammae wants to keep Echo overnight just to make sure." Delilah nods, relief flooding her face. "So what's going on with you?" She looks up at me in surprise.

"What makes you think something's going on?"

"You barged in without knocking and immediately asked where Echo was. It kind of seems like you have something on your mind." She sighs, looking down at her feet as we walk into the library.

"If I tell you, you can't tell anyone. Not until I get the chance to talk to Echo, okay?"

"Okay," I say, something knotting in my stomach. She bites her lip before seemingly deciding she could talk to me about it.

"Sybil told me that she was in the bar last night and overheard someone say something about how Mazus was gonna get ahold of the baby. She said she didn't really think much of it until this morning when she realized two of the men were in guards uniforms. I guess one of them said that, 'the Kypture mutt was gonna pay.'"

"Did she say anything else about Mazus?"

"No. She was pretty wasted when she got back last night. I'm surprised she remembers any of it." I sigh.

"I've got to tell Jovi. The men who attacked us called her a mutt fucker and they were dressed like guards."

"Don't tell her that it was Sybil who overheard the conversation."

"Why?" I ask, my eyebrows furrowing.

"Because Jovi still doesn't trust her, and I don't want Jovi to lose her shit on Sybil." I sigh, but nod, grabbing the doorknob.

"If she remembers anything, let me know." She nods. I walk out, heading down to the infirmary. The doctor is barely finishing bandaging Jovi's thigh when I walk in.

"Where'd you guys disappear to?" she asks, pulling her pants up. I walk over to her, helping her walk towards Echo's room. I knew she'd want to check on our mate, and truthfully, so did I.

"We went to our room. You were right, someone needed to talk to her."

"Is she okay?" I nod, biting my lip as I set Jovi down in one of the chairs in Echo's room. She looks up at me, her eyebrows furrowed. "There's something you're not telling me." I close the door before sitting next to her.

"We talked, and she told me some things, like about how she's still upset over the whole Mazus thing. Anyways, some stuff happened and then Delilah was walk-"

"Some stuff?" I roll my eyes, despite the heat creeping up my neck.

"Not the issue here-"

"You guys had sex!" I rub my face.

"Jovi, there's something we need to talk about. We can come back to this later." She huffs, leaning back in her chair.

"Okay, what is it?"

"Someone overheard a conversation in a bar last night. Two of them were dressed like guards, and I think they had to have been the guys that attacked us. One of them said that Mazus was going to get the baby, and another said that the Kypture mutt was gonna pay. I think Mazus was behind this." Her foot taps, and she rubs her face.