Kiss of the Dark Prince by Jade Astor

Author:Jade Astor [Astor, Jade]
Language: eng
Format: epub

Chapter 9

WHEN LUKE woke in the morning, he jumped up and tried the door again. This time, he found it unlocked. Emory stood outside with a full breakfast on a tray, his hand raised and about to knock.

“This door was locked,” Luke said, twisting the knob as Emory came inside. “Andreas had the nerve to trap me in here last night.”

Emory stared at him. “I am sure you are mistaken. Why would he do such a thing? I suspect it was merely stuck.”

“No. I don’t think so. I tried it last night, more than once.” Luke rattled it again, but this time the knob twisted easily. “I’m sure it was locked. He must have come back later.”

Emory shrugged, clearly not believing him. “These old doors are unpredictable sometimes. Do you want cream and sugar in your coffee?”

“Yeah—thanks.” Luke stood aside, pulling on a T-shirt and hiking up his pajama pants, which had slid down around his hips. He thought he saw Emory watching out of the corner of his eye as he bent over the coffee.

“Wachtmeister Thorn says to tell you the climbers are back. You may walk out and join him when you are ready, if you are so inclined.”

Luke nodded. “I think I will. Is the prince already with him?”

“I fear not. He is not well today, and is still in his room. Hence, breakfast is not being served in the usual way.”

It occurred to Luke that he didn’t know where, exactly, Prince Georg’s room was. “He went out last night in the rain,” he observed. “I hope he didn’t catch a chill.”

Again Emory wore a look of surprise. “You are mistaken, sir. The prince went to bed early and stayed inside all night. Our old friend Hanzi brought the Wachtmeister’s meal out to him. No one else ventured into the rain.”

Not in the mood to argue, Luke slurped his coffee while Emory smoothed out the quilt, pulled out clothes for him, and laid them on the end of the bed. “If you see him, you can tell Richard that I’ll be down directly.”

“I would, sir, but I believe he’s already joined the climbers at the ravine. The morning is clear and I believe they wanted to get an early start.”

“Well, I’ll tell him myself, then. And stop calling me sir. It’s just Luke. I don’t care what the custom around this old mausoleum is.”

Having finished with the clothes, Emory looked up and flashed Luke the most genuine smile he’d seen since his arrival in Schattenberg. Luke had little hope he would follow his directions and would go on addressing him as he would some stuffy, middle-aged patriarch, but at least he’d made his feelings known. That satisfied him for the time being.

Quickly, he showered and dressed, then hurried down the path to the ravine, where the rappelers were already at work. Richard stood atop the rocks, balancing perilously close to the edge and peering down. He waved and started clambering down as Luke jogged toward him.

“Anything?” Luke asked when they met up on lower ground.

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