Chapter Twenty
Noah rushed into the kitchen. “Hide her.” He barked at his brother. “Someone is here. Quickly.” He said with clear urgency.
Kai immediately did as he was told, grabbing Azurdee by the wrist and dragging her to the stairwell. “Stay here. Don’t make a sound. And don’t come out. We’ll let you know once it’s safe to do so.” Kai whispered, pushing her inside the small room.
“But… what if they take you! What if…” Azurdee couldn’t ask any more questions because Kai had already closed the door, plunging her into darkness. She held her breath and approached the door, pressing her ear against it, hoping she could overhear what was going on.
Noah was at the door, his expression calm. He had grown up lying his way through every situation. This was no different.
Only, the girl he loved was on the line.
He took a deep breath and waited for the knock. Once the appropriate time had passed, he answered the door, facing two royal guards.
“Hello.” One of them said, standing at attention. “We’re working on the Miss Azurdee case, the noblewoman kidnapped from the Hallowed Clan. You might know her from the newspapers.”
“Sure, sure.” Noah nodded. He grabbed a copy of the paper off the small table in the foyer. “It’s unfortunate she was taken before her wedding. Her fiancé must be really worried about her.” Noah pretended to act concerned, but there was clear malice in his voice.
“We were informed that you were in town this evening, talking about her.”
“Is it a crime to talk about a girl who’s all over the news?”
“The person who reported you seemed to think you had an intimate relationship with the noblewoman, judging by the way you talked about her. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have a warrant to search your premises.” He held out a royal decree before he barged into the home, followed by his companion.
Kai was on the couch when they rushed into the living room. “Get up.” They ordered. Calmly, Kai did as he was told while the guards lifted the couch, making sure she wasn’t hiding underneath.
“You’re wasting your time here. We’re not in the business of kidnapping young girls.”
The guards paid him no mind as they rushed up the stairs. Underneath, Azurdee flinched, nearly screaming when she realized just how close they really were. She fell back onto the bed and it squeaked under her weight. “Did you hear that?” One of them asked.
“What is it?”
“Sounded like something was coming from under the staircase. Would be a very convenient place to hide a girl, wouldn’t it?” Thinking they had figured everything out, the guards ran down the stairs and started to search for some sort of hidden compartment.
Suddenly, there was a loud bang from one of the bedrooms. The guards looked at each other before they bounded up the stairs, only to find Noah had dropped one of his dumbbells. “Sorry, officers, just thought I would tidy up a bit.”
Suspicious, they started to search the entire bedroom, but couldn’t find any trace of Azurdee. They looked at the sheets which were cleanly made.
Eventually, they concluded that Azurdee wasn’t there and apologized to the two vampires.
Noah waited for the guards to disappear before he followed them from a safe distance. They went all the way to the capital where they reported their findings. Satisfied that no one would bother them for the rest of the night, he ran back home.
“So?”
“They don’t think she’s here,” Noah told Kai with a smirk.
With a nod of his head, he opened the door to Azurdee’s room, letting her out. “Is everything okay?” She asked, a little scared.
“Yeah.” Kai nodded, smiling down at her. “You’re safe. There’s nothing to worry about.” He kissed the top of her head before guiding her to the living room.
“That was a close one…” She said, collapsing onto the couch. She had been anxious the entire time, fearing the worst. “I don’t even want to think about what would’ve happened if they found me.”
“What did we tell you? We won’t let anyone lay a finger on you.” Noah sat down beside her, his hand on her knee.
Azurdee was still skeptical. “What if they come back?”
“They won’t.”
“But what if they do?” She stared into his dark eyes. “I don’t want anything to happen to you two. I don’t want you to get hurt because of me.”
“Look.” Noah took her hands into his. “No one is going to hurt us. Kai and I have been through much worse than a couple of guards raiding our home. It’s no big deal. Don’t worry about it.”
Azurdee bit her lip, knowing this would nag at her until she found a solution. Suddenly, it hit her. “What if I write a letter home?”
“What will that do?”
“Well… if I tell my mother that I’m no longer a virgin, then she’ll be forced to call off the wedding, right?” Azurdee grinned, thinking her plan was foolproof.
“Writing materials are right over here.” Kai crossed the living room, opening a drawer beneath the TV. He pulled out a piece of parchment and a beautiful quill pen.
Kai brought over a writing table, setting up everything so she could write her letter.
“Thanks.” She smiled, about to start writing when she noticed that Noah was breathing down her neck. “Uh… do you mind if I have a little privacy?”
Noah sighed, but nonetheless got up and left the room with his brother.
Alone, Azurdee thought about what she should tell her mother that would guarantee she would no longer have to marry Fredrick. She bit her lip and looked out the window where the moon was high in the sky.
Finally, she took pen to paper and started to write.