Mark of Betrayal (Dark Secrets #3)(68)
Author: A.M. Hudson

Morgaine looked into her plate. “Yes.”

“You can keep your whispers to yourself, Margret,” Arthur said suddenly in his stern voice. “I would just as soon give my life at her feet. I am no traitor.”

I offered him a warm smile. “I know that, Arthur.”

“And I cannot be the traitor,” said Moustache Man. “I’m Lilithian.”

“As am I,” said Grey Sideburns, then a few others. No one seemed to look particularly guilty, except Morgaine. I wondered if she knew who the traitor was or if she only suspected someone. Either way, we were going to have a sit down chat—a long one.

“So, those who swore to the throne of Lilith, what happened to their oaths when she died?”

“They remained faithful. Since Drake never made an oath, he could not have control of us,” Margret-slash-Mrs. Peacock said, bowing her head. “Our allegiance remains faithful to the Lilithian rule, even if you never make an oath.”

“So, if I wanna stay here,” Nate said, “do I have to make an oath?”

“Only if you plan to serve on the Private Guard or the Private Council,” someone said.

“Cool.” He nodded. “Well, if it’s all the same, I’ll just stick to being one of the guests for now.”

“That’s fine, Nate,” I said, tearing my eyes away from his with the sense of another’s on me, and when they brushed across Arthur’s face, he looked away.

“Morg?” I kicked her foot under the table; she looked up at me. “Is your ‘getting people’ thing turned on right now?”

She frowned, half smiling. “Why?”

“Can you read…I mean…” I nodded in Arthur’s direction when he turned away to answer a question. “He looked at me weird.”

Morgaine stared at him, then shook her head and smiled.

“What is it?” I asked, leaning closer. “Why was he looking at me like that?”

Arthur looked right at me then, and I sat up, pretending not to be talking about him, but I felt my cheeks flush, the heat rising up from my chest. I could only imagine what scent he was catching from me then, because he scratched his brow with one finger, laughing a little. Even Morgaine laughed.

“Morg?” I whispered, not so quietly. “What are you two laughing at?”

“You don’t have anything to worry about.” She smiled at Arthur, who didn’t even bother to look away this time. “From what I gather, he thinks you look pretty tonight.”

With another flush in my cheeks, I looked up at Arthur’s vibrant blue eyes and smiled.

“Stop that!” Mike kicked my foot.

“Ouch,” I whined. “Stop what?”

“Flirting.” He leaned closer. “I can feel the heat coming off your body.”

“I was not.” I scowled at him and went back to eating my dinner.

From my peripheral, I saw Mike point at Morgaine. “You shouldn’t encourage her.”

Morgaine just giggled and looked up at me from under her lashes, but her gaze slipped quickly past me to look over at Nate, talking with another vampire about David.

“What about David?” I shot my voice across the table; all hushed.

Nate shifted in his chair.

“He just found out he’s dead,” Eric said.

I twisted my wedding band around with my thumb. “You didn’t know?”

“I—I keep to myself. I’ve pretty much just hidden in my room at the castle since I was changed. I didn’t even know there was a war going on.”

“Nate’s new,” Arthur explained. “He was recently brought in by a Scout.”

“Scout?” I frowned.

“Like Orion,” Morgaine said. “Same guys who would’ve eventually come for Emily.”

“Oh.” I looked over at our newcomer. “So, you knew David, Nate?”

“Yeah. I went to school with him.”

“When?”

“Just last year.”

My core imploded. “Nate—is that…is that short for Nathan?”

“Yeah, sure is.”

“Holy cow! You’re Nathan Rossi? I went to your funeral!”

He laughed. “Really?”

“Yes! Oh, my God. You’re not dead!”

“Ur—” He looked down at his own body. “Not as far as I can tell.”

“Oh, my God!” I said a few times. “Does Emily know?”

“Emily?” Nathan looked at Eric. “Who’s Emily?”

“Emily’s a vampire, Nathan.” I tried to contain my excitement, but heard my own voice travel across the table louder than it should be. “Emily from school.”

“Emily…” His eyes widened. “Emily Peirce? David’s Emily?”

Everyone went quiet.

“David’s Emily?” I gulped. “What exactly do you mean by David’s Emily?”

“She…she was…I mean, she was the only girl he ever hung out with.” He shrugged. “They were close.”

My heart dropped in my stomach. “Close?”

“Yeah. None of us guys were allowed to touch her. So…what happened to him—David? Why’d he die?”

Eric clapped Nathan on the shoulder. “I’ll fill you in after dinner, man.”

I scratched my head, sitting back.

“So, is she here? Em?” Nate asked.

“No.” I looked at Mike; he was as stiff as I was. “She will be tomorrow, though.”

“Cool.” Nathan grinned. “That’s really cool. I always liked Em.”

“Well, she’s engaged now.” I jerked my head in Mike’s direction.

“Yeah? No kidding. That’s awesome.”

Mike nodded and looked down at his lap, a blue light making his face glow from under the table. I felt the double vibration of his message tone come through the base of my seat.

“So, how did you know David, Princess Amara?” Nathan asked.

Eric leaned in to Nathan and whispered, “She was his wife.”

Nathan sat taller, his eyes wide. “Oh. But—I thought he…I mean, last I spoke to him, he was hooked on some other girl. Ara, or something weird like that.”

I laughed through my nose. “Yeah. That’s me. I get called Ara, Ara-Rose, all different names.”

His lip quirked on one side as he took a closer look at my face than he had before. “So, you married him?”

I nodded, unable to stop from smiling at his obvious joy.