The Underworld Crown (Series)

Chapter 27

It was Alek.

He was still in his pitch-black suit, with both hands braced against the door frame. Somehow, he looked different than when I'd danced with him earlier. He'd appeared apprehensive before. But now...there was a confidence in his eyes that told me he was here for something important.

He looked up when I opened the door and his eyes got caught on what I was wearing. His hands tightened on the door frame and his eyes darkened.

Flustered, a blush rose to my cheeks and I gripped the towel tightly, all too aware of my state of undress. "What are you doing here?" I asked.

Slowly, he dragged his eyes back up to my face and cleared his throat. "We didn't get to finish our conversation earlier."

Ignoring the fact that I hadn't invited him in yet, he scooted past me and strolled inside, looking around with curiosity. My jaw dropped at his arrogance, but I realised I had other things to be worried about. I closed the door behind him so that no passer-bys would see me almost-nude and slyly grabbed at the underwear on the bed, tucking it into a chest drawer. He took his time looking at the line of books on one of my shelves – none of them yet read by me – and shucked off his suit jacket, abandoning it on the bed and rolling up his shirt sleeves. When he was done, he turned to face me.

"We need to talk about Greed City. And about Cleo."

I laughed harshly. "We really don't. Now, can you leave so I can get changed?"

He ignored me and ploughed forwards, pacing at the foot of my bed. "You see, we've both been blind this entire time."

"Excuse me?"

He came to a stop before me. "Tell me what you remember happening in Greed City. The night you were taken."

I furrowed my eyebrows together, confused why he was asking me this. "Will you leave me alone if I tell you?"

"I will."

I took a deep breath and tightened the towel around me. "I remember us fighting about the fact you'd lied about who you were, and your intentions. After we fought, I needed to get some air and you told me that you would be waiting for me when I got back. That you would come looking for me if I took too long."

He nodded in agreement, gesturing for me to continue.

Trusting that he had a point to this, I continued, "It couldn't have been more than an hour or so when I made me way back to the hotel, but you were nowhere to be found. Cleo had told me that you'd left the city, which wasn't very hard to believe. That's when Cleo attacked me, and the Crown Guard appeared and knocked me out with a tranq gun." I sighed and looked at the pain in Alek's eyes. "Why are you asking me this?"

He shook his head, as if hoping that might get rid of the pain. "Cleo lied to us both. I never left you. I waited in Greed City for days, thinking you were hiding but just didn't want to see me."

"I don't understand."

"I didn't either, but now I do," he exclaimed with relief. "About twenty minutes after you left, I went after you again to explain. Even Cleo encouraged me to go after you, saying that she would wait at the apartment in case you decided to return early. I went out looking for you, but ten minutes into walking through the streets my vision started to blur. I had a huge headache and every movement felt like I was trying to drag myself through quicksand. I was confused, and I thought that I was just sleep deprived, but I realised tonight that it wasn't the lack of sleep that messed with me."

"I'm not following. What are you saying?"

"Do you remember how Cleo made us food that night?"

I nodded with a frown. "Only vaguely. I don't think I ate anything."