66. Chapter 66

Chapter sixty-six

D elroys room wasn't anything like she had been expecting, although Haven didn't actually know what she was expecting. Blank and bland walls met with even blander wood furniture. Not a picture in sight, his clothes were neatly tucked away in a dresser, the floors were swept and his bed was made. Haven wondered if he'd been stress cleaning before she showed up.

The only thing marking this room as his was his scent but even that was faint. Delroy had done a good job of making the room seem clinical and impersonal if that was what he was going for.

Upon closer inspection, Haven could smell another scent in addition to Delroys. It was fainter and if she didn't already recognize the scent, she'd never have known he'd been here recently. Romans scent was all over this room. Haven wanted to ask about it but she had a feeling Delroy would kick her out if she so much as mentioned the two of them in the same sentence.

"What did you want to ask me?" Delroy asked roughly, closing the door to his room. He'd told her that he didn't hate her but his tone told another story.

"What do you know about Niks kidnapping?"

Delroy sighed, throwing himself down on his bed and folding one arm under his head.

"Absolutely nothing" He told her, if it weren't for the sadness Haven could hear in his voice she probably wouldn't believe him. She knew she shouldn't take him at his word, sad tone or not, but Delroy seemed to be many things and she did not believe a liar was not one of them. Still, she couldn't help asking,

"Why should I believe you?"

Delroy sat up on the edge of his bed. He looked her in the eye before responding,

"You shouldn't. You're a queen now. Whatever you've been dealing with before now was child's play compared to some of the snakes in the courts. From now on, you should believe no one because trust me Haven, the moment someone has your ear they won't hesitate to tell you exactly what they want you to hear to get you onto their side or to do what they want. And every single one of them is a damn good liar."

Haven swallowed, "That was very ominous" She commented.

"Good" Delroy remarked, his voice softer now. For a second, the sadness and hurt had disappeared from his eyes while he'd been talking. It was back now and it caused Haven to sit down next to him, in an attempt to offer some sort of comfort even though she barely knew him .

"You really don't know anything do you?"

"No"

Haven hesitated before asking, "Do you think he planned it?"

"I'd like to say no, I really would"

"But you can't, can you?"

Delroy shook his head.

She didn't know which theory was worse, that Nik planned his kidnapping rather than staying to fight with Haven or that he really had no idea it was going to happen and was now in the hands of a violent criminal planning to use him against the crown. If the second was true, she didn't know what would happen.

When the crown regent had been in power it was obvious Nik was worth something to the rulers here. With her now in power it was less obvious. Her relationship with Nik was only known by a few, his dad hadn't even known. Although, Haven was certain he knew now. Haven was also sure there had likely been some whispers between some of the workers in the castle but nothing widespread or concrete. A shudder worked through Haven at the thought of what his kidnappers might do if they thought Nik was worth nothing.

Before Haven could get too lost in her thoughts, Deroy reached over and placed a comforting hand on her knee. Softly he told her,

"Don't worry. We'll find him. Whether we have to drag him back from wherever he is hiding or rescue him from some criminal, we will bring him home."

***

Haven closed Delroys door softly behind her. The two of them had talked for awhile, about a lot of things. By the end, Delroy still seemed a little frosty towards her but it definitely wasn't the outright hate she had felt in the past. She'd been in the room so long that early morning light from the sun began peeking in through the windows.

They had decided to send out a tracking party to look for Nik and to have a few of the fae Delroy knew with more questionable contacts put their ears to the ground to see what they could dig up.

Whispers down the hall alerted Haven to the presence of others. Looking down at herself, she cursed. In her pissed off state after Roman finished telling her what happened, she hadn't given much thought to what she'd been wearing when she marched over to Delroys room.

She was barefoot, her black silk night dress hanging loosely around her hips, held up by thin straps that matched the white lace trim along the bottom. It definitely wasn't the most queenly attire to be traipsing around the castle in the early morning. And definitely not the right thing to be exiting a male guards room at this early hour.

She did not want anyone to get the wrong idea about her relationship with Delroy. Haven also had a feeling he would rather be caught dead than have rumors about the two of them spread. And spread they would if anyone caught her leaving his room this early looking like she'd been through hell. She hadn't thought to look in a mirror since she'd woken but Haven would be willing to bet the sight would not be pretty after the last two nights. Being held hostage and knocked unconscious could do that to a girl .

The whispers grew closer, sending Haven into motion. She all but ran back to her room, her feet treading silently on the castles stone floors thanks to her training with Tasha.

It only took her a few minutes running down the corridors to make it back to her room. Luckily she'd passed no one on her trek.

Twisting her door handle, Haven entered her room to find a surprise guest asleep on her bed.

The sight of Astrea curled up on her bed tugged on Havens heart. She was still mad at her friends but at this point, she understood why they did what they did. She just wished they hadn't lied to her about it. Years ago when they knowingly let Haven's father be killed while also poisoning her to prevent her death, they hadn't known her, they were not friends back then. And although in Havens mind it was a pretty shitty thing to do, they had reasons for what they did. Good ones from what Haven could tell. So it wasn't that that upset her, it was the lies, the fact that they had known exactly who she was, known exactly who her parents were and who she'd become. Nik, Roman, Astrea, they had all been lying to her from the moment they met.

The thought soured Havens mood more than she should have let it. Still, she could not bring herself to wake her friend and tell her to leave. She probably came here to check on Haven and fell asleep while waiting for her to come back. Haven crawled onto the bed next to Astrea, she had a few hours to sleep before he had to be at morning training. One last training session before her coronation, before she officially took on the role of Queen.