Jinxed

T H I R T Y

CHAPTER 30

When I finally made my way out of that godforsaken small secret tunnel, which was oddly long and led out towards a hidden door in the stables.

When the stable boy saw me emerging from the back of a stable stall, he looked at me quizzically.

"What are you doing back there?"

I shot him a strained smile, tucking the small diary in the back of my pants "Just out for a nighttime stroll."

"In the stables?"

"Horses are my comfort animal" I said, scratching one of their noses as he snorted at me "Especially the one's under Lord Devereux's care. I've never seen more finely taken care of animals."

The stableboy preened with pride at my comment.

I took a step away from the horse and bid him a goodnight.

It was a good ten minutes later when I arrived at my room.

I could tell from the shift in the air the moment I entered our room that something was not right.

Not from the way Emilia was curled up in the middle of the bed, the thin blanket covering her entire body as it wracked with silent sobs.

"Emmie?" I crossed the room quickly as I could, crawling onto the bed and scooping her into my arms, sheet and all "Shh baby, don't cry."

She sobbed harder.

"We're going to die here Malakai" she said, making me wince at the use of my full name "I can feel it. We're going to die here just like they did."

Shit...this vision must have spooked her more than I thought...almost as much as it spoked me.

I swallowed thickly "Don't say..."

"They threw their bodies in the Bayou and watched as the alligators ate them" she cried "Our faces are going to be the next ones on the news."

"I won't even get to se my sister graduate...or watch my father find happiness again" She wailed "Or your poor grandpa...he'll suffer another heart attack again."

It was nice that she cared about that mean son of a bitch I called a grandfather, considering that he wanted nothing to do with his estranged son's only kid, but I'm pretty sure that wouldn't be the worst news to hit Grandpa Stone's ears.

"Emilia" I started to say but she cut me off before I could finish my sentence.

"And do you know what the worst part is?" those pretty brown eyes of hers locked with mine "I'm pretty sure that whatever happened here had nothing to do with Lord Devereux. So we're back to square one. With no suspects and no clue about what the fuck we're going to do."