Chapter 32

Kayla

We began making our way to the guild hall after dark that night. Nicholas drove us on his motorcycle, parking it amongst some trees a little ways down the road where it was unlikely to be spotted. After that, we walked toward the guild hall in silence.

Nicholas strode a couple paces ahead, his posture tense and uneasy. I walked behind him with my hands in my jacket pockets. The cold wind whipped at my hair and chilled my face. Winter would be here soon, that was for sure, but his attitude was even colder.

It was clear to me that Nicholas didn’t exactly enjoy interrogating this Grace woman. In fact, he had been quiet and brooding all day. No matter how much he pissed me off sometimes, I couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for him.

I just hoped that I could help him uncover at least some of the truth surrounding his mother’s death.

By the time we arrived, the guild hall was deathly dark and silent. Nicholas led me around to the back of the building, where a maintenance door stood illuminated by a single light. He pushed open the door without hesitation, stepping into the shadows of the dimly lit hallway beyond.

Inside, a figure was waiting, arms crossed and leaning casually against the wall. His brown eyes narrowed as they flicked over to me, and I recognized him as the man who I had bumped into in the basement the other day—Noah. Nicholas’s partner in crime, it seemed.

“Noah,” Nicholas said as we strode up to the man.

“Nicholas,” Noah replied, pushing away from the wall. His gaze lingered on me for a moment longer before he straightened and turned to face Nicholas again. “What’s she doing here?”

“Nice to see you again too,” I said coolly. Noah turned toward me with a grimace, his neat beard and sandy hair catching the dim light.

“Noah, this is Kayla,” Nicholas said. “She’s here to help this time.”

Noah’s eyebrows shot up. “You brought someone else into this? Do you have any idea what’s at stake here?” He glared at Nicholas. “I’m already putting my career on the line helping you, and now there’s another person involved?”

“Career?” I asked.

Nicholas glanced at me. “Noah is an employee at the guild hall. It’s thanks to him that I even know about Grace’s existence, let alone being able to sneak in here after hours.”

At that, Noah held up a small keyring and dangled it around his index finger. “And yet I made it pretty fucking clear that no one else should get involved,” he hissed.

“Relax, Noah. She’s one of the most trustworthy people I know,” Nicholas said calmly, effectively cutting off Noah’s tirade.

I blinked. Of all the things I expected him to say about me, that wasn’t one of them. Trustworthy? Me? My cheeks warmed despite myself, and I quickly looked away, hoping that neither of them noticed.

Noah, however, didn’t seem convinced. His eyes swept over me once more, lingering briefly on the moonstone pendant around my throat. He seemed to hesitate for a moment, wondering if it was a good idea to go against both his Alpha’s and Luna’s wishes.

“I guess I have no choice but to take your word for it,” he finally muttered. “Alright. Let’s go.”

The tension between the three of us was palpable as we descended into the basement. The air grew colder with every step, the scent of dampness growing stronger. Dim lights lined the walls, their flickering glow casting eerie shadows across the stone.

The room we entered was small and barren, save for a single table and chair. Grace was already there, sitting hunched over with her wrists bound just like before. Her face was just as pale and drawn as I remembered, her hair hanging limply around her shoulders. Her hollow eyes darted up to us as we entered.

Her fear was immediate and palpable. She flinched slightly as Nicholas stepped closer. Even I felt my body tense a little at the cold authority in his stance as he stared her down. Gone was the lighthearted smirk that he usually displayed, replaced with a grim set to his sharp jaw.

“Grace,” he said, low and even. “You know why we’re here.”

Grace didn’t respond. Her hands trembled slightly, but she remained silent.

With a sigh, Nicholas turned and nodded to me. I stepped forward, pulling out the other chair and sitting down across from her. I offered a small, reassuring smile, trying to soften the tension in the room.

“Hi, Grace,” I said gently. “I’m Kayla.”

No response.

I took a deep breath, glancing up at Nicholas and Noah. They were both standing in the corner, Nicholas leaning against the wall with his arms folded tightly. Returning my gaze to Kayla, I said softly, “I know this is a lot, but we’re just here to talk. That’s all.”

Her eyes flicked to me briefly before dropping back to her lap. Still, she said nothing.

I tried again, asking simple, non-threatening questions to ease her into the conversation. But every time I spoke, she either didn’t answer or gave vague, one-word responses that told me nothing. It was like trying to pull teeth.

Nicholas’s frustration was palpable. “She knows something about my mother’s death,” he growled, pacing behind me. “I know she does. She was there.”

Grace’s shoulders hunched further, her entire body seeming to curl in on itself just at the sound of Nicholas’s voice. I glanced at her again, noting the way her eyes kept darting toward the two men in the room. The trembling of her hands grew more pronounced every time Nicholas spoke, and Noah’s stern silence certainly wasn’t helping, either.

That was when it hit me. She wasn’t just scared—she was terrified of them.

I leaned back slightly, studying her. “Grace,” I said softly, “are you scared of them?”

Her gaze snapped to mine, wide and panicked, before dropping again. That was all the confirmation I needed.

I stood abruptly, whirling around to face Nicholas and Noah. “Get out.”

Nicholas blinked and halted his pacing, his frustration giving way to confusion. “What?”

“I said, get out,” I repeated firmly. “You two are scaring her, and she’s not going to talk while you’re hovering over her like a couple of vultures.”

The two men exchanged glances before Noah stepped forward. “She’s not going to talk if we’re not here,” he argued, his arms crossing over his chest again. “This is a waste of time.”

“No, what’s a waste of time is you two standing around like a pair of angry bodyguards,” I shot back, taking a step toward them. “She’s not going to open up to me if she thinks you’re going to pounce on her the second she says something you don’t like.”

Nicholas’s jaw tightened, and for a moment, I thought he was going to argue. But to my surprise, instead, he exchanged a glance with Noah, who looked just as displeased.

“This is ridiculous,” Noah muttered, but neither of them moved.

“Fine.” I took another step forward and placed both hands on their chests, shoving them toward the door. They didn’t exactly budge much—both of them were built like brick walls—but they did shuffle back a step or two out of sheer surprise.

“Stay out until I say so!” I barked, herding them into the hallway. With one final push, I slammed the door shut in their faces before they could protest further.

For a moment, there was silence. Then, through the heavy metal door, I heard Noah mutter, “Is she always such a—”

“It’s better to just do what she says, buddy,” Nicholas interrupted before Noah could finish. Even through the metal, I thought I could hear that infuriating smirk in his voice. A sigh echoed through the door next, Noah’s discontent palpable.

Taking a deep breath, I turned to Grace once more. This time, I offered her a wide, warm smile. And if I wasn’t mistaken, the tension in her shoulders seemed to ease just a little.

“Now,” I said, walking back over to the chair and sitting down across from her, “where were we?”