Defying the Lycan King (Kira and Derek) novel Chapter 122

Chapter 122: Her Murdered Mother

"There is something you need to know, Your Grace. It’s about the—"

The kitchen door swung open, and her words died in her throat.

Ruby walked in, her eyes on Ishita. Ishita, who had been holding the container with both hands and the particular steadiness of someone who had made a decision, felt that steadiness leave her body instantly.

Her hands trembled, and her eyes went to Ruby’s face before she could stop them.

Ruby’s gaze dropped to the container, then back up to Ishita. The look she gave the older woman was not loud or dramatic. It was very cold, and very pointed, and it said everything without saying anything at all.

Derek’s brows drew together, and he narrowed his gaze at Ishita. "What is it?"

Ishita pulled her eyes back to him and swallowed, deciding to summon the courage to continue.

"It’s about—"

Derek’s phone rang, cutting her off once again. He glanced at the screen and saw Connor’s name and held up a hand to Ishita. "Wait."

She closed her mouth and stood there with the container pressed between her palms, her heart going too fast. She refused to look at Ruby, who was still standing by the doorframe, arms folded. Her eyes were almost glowing with fury.

"Connor." Derek’s voice was already moving toward the clipped efficiency it took on when something was wrong.

"Your Grace." Connor’s voice came through carefully. "The Queen... she’s refused to come home."

Derek went still. "What do you mean she’s refused?"

There was a short hesitation on the other end. "After her classes this morning, she asked to be taken to the park at The Central. She’s been there a while, sitting with her friend. She hasn’t said much to any of us."

Another pause. "She’s just checked into one of the hotels here. She’s told us to leave. All the other guards are in the lobby. I’m the only one still at her door, but she’s ordered me to retire for the evening and—"

"Send me the location. I’m on my way."

Derek was already moving. Leo stirred inside him, hackles rising at the thought of Kira sitting alone in a hotel room somewhere, telling her entire security detail to go away. It made something in his chest pull tight in a way he did not stop to examine.

Behind him, the kitchen was quiet.

Ruby let out a slow, triumphant breath and looked at Ishita. Ishita looked back at her, the container still in her hands, and said nothing.

***

The hotel room was not large, but it was private, and that was all Kira had needed when she had walked up to the front desk and asked for it.

She sat now on the edge of the bed with her knees drawn up and her shoes off, and she was crying in the particular way she hated most, the quiet kind, the kind where the tears just kept coming without noise, making her feel helpless in a way that loud crying never did.

Jessica sat beside her with one arm around her shoulders, saying nothing, which was the right thing to do. Jessica had always known when to talk and when to simply be present, and this was a being-present moment.

Kira had told her everything. About Lydia. About the way the words had sounded when Lydia had leaned across the table and said them so quietly, as though lowering her voice could soften the weight of what they meant.

He killed your mother. Rolf strangled her to death.

She had held herself together through the taxi ride back. She had held herself together through the park, sitting on a bench while the afternoon moved around her, and Jessica held her hand and didn’t push. She had held herself together right up until the hotel room door closed behind them, and then she had stopped holding.

Her father had killed her mother.

And then he had spent twenty years blaming the child for it.

She pressed the back of her hand against her mouth and breathed through it. Her mind kept circling back to the same question, the one that had been sitting at the edge of everything since she’d left Lydia at that restaurant table.

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