Nico's POV:

"So," I began, taking another step closer to the boy, "What exactly was your plan last night?"

The amount of time he had spent serving the royals of this kingdom showed through how he carried himself.

Ever since Marcus stepped out, even with his legs bound and a prince who was completely set on slaughtering him not even 8 hours ago in front of him, he sat straight with his breathing calm and controlled.

All except for the way he rubbed at his reddened wrists.

"My plan was to sneak into your room, knock out your pet with this," He pulled a rag from his pocket, " and keep her contained somewhere until the Lord woke up." He spoke directly.

I knew I was going to have to try very hard to control my impulses during this, but I wasn't expecting to have to do so this soon.

Luckily, the fact that I recognized the oddly sweet smell that radiated from the rag from my medical background aided in shifting my focus.

He held it out to me, apparently reading the look on my face.

I took it, feeling the odd texture that proved that whatever it was soaked in had dried, and with a little inspection, recognized it as Sevoflurane.

A very useful inhalational anesthetic.

Had he placed this over her airways, she would have been out or at least nonresponsive within a matter of seconds.

"What does he want with her?"

He didn't respond as quickly this time, his brows furrowing and lips pulling to the side.

"I don't know. I've been trying to piece that together myself, but he hasn't told me. Probably because he knew this exact thing might happen. Before I was just supposed to drug her and ask some very strange questions, but now he wants her physically delivered."

His answers were surprisingly blunt and straight to the point, despite the anger that both of us knew was boiling within me.

Still, he was keeping his end of the deal, answering everything directly and honestly.

"What questions did you ask her that night you drugged her?"

"I don't remember specifics. Most of them were worded... strangely, but they were all basically about you. What she thought of you, how you treated her... stuff like that."

My fingers dug into my upper arm.

"And if I remember correctly, that plan failed?"

He nodded.

"The Lord gave me access to the ingredients as well as the recipe I was supposed to execute and give to her, but one of us must have miscalculated the correct dosage and it worked a little too well."

Thank God for that.

Given the mood, she was in after the fact, who knows what she could have said.

"So you don't any idea as to why my father wants her so badly?"

"He gives me orders, not reasons. I'm nothing more than the executor just trying to save his friend."

All his words rang true.

That meant that if I wanted the answers to these questions, I would need to ask him myself.

Which in itself sounded like an absolutely terrible idea.

As much as I did want these answers, this seemed like a plan that My father has spent a while planning out.

If I questioned him directly and showed him that I ruined his plans, he could so easily ruin everything.

Despite everything, he was still much more powerful than me in every sense of the word.

And that wasn't a risk I wanted to take while Khloe was on the line.

With a very reluctant sigh, I turned. I had gotten what I needed for now.

Scratch that, I've gotten all that I can for now.

This boy wasn't as helpful as I was expecting him to be.

"Okay. I'll come back if I think of anything else I need from you."

"Wait you're just gonna leave me here?!" He spoke from behind me.

"Yes. I know where your loyalty lies, so I'm not letting you go until I figure this out," I stated simply.

If anything, I didn't need my father knowing that I caught on to any of this

I turned just enough to see his wide eyes.

"I can't stay in here for that long," He began, eyes shifting to his still-bound legs as a tinge of panic showed in his voice again. "There's nowhere for me to-"

"Relax," I bit, "I'll come by a bit later today and set you up somewhere less demeaning. I just don't need you running back to the Lord."

He stayed quiet with just a nod, knowing better than to say anything else.

Without another word, I stepped out to face Marcus, who looked very worried when I locked the door behind me.

~~~

I slowly leaned back in my desk chair, careful as to not make too much of a noise that would wake Khloe.

I already settled Carlo with a slightly more comfortable room to keep him in last night and explained to Marcus what was taking place.

Then I agreed to let Marcus take him his meals and spend some time with him throughout the days.

I gave Xander the rundown of what was going on once he got back and told him to keep an eye on Doe just in case.

Now it was close to 5 am and I was reading over the events on what happened on Xander's trip.

He had to take a clerk with him who had to transcribe everything that happened.

I woke up early and couldn't fall back to sleep, so I figured I should read through this now so I could lay with Khloe longer as the morning got brighter

I smirked a bit as I read through it.

Apparently, when Xander first arrived, a couple of the vampires tried to revolt since he wasn't the heir or the Lord。

And Xander managed to handle it perfectly.

Although his pheromone wasn't at strong as mine, he was still arguably better at using it than I was and did so to keep those vampires in check and establish his dominance.

The rest of the actual signing and such seemed to go pretty well.

I turned as soon as I heard Khloe's slow and even breathing change.

It was already a miracle that I managed to get out of bed without waking her, but I did wonder how long it would take for her to wake up.

A smile reached my face as I watched her slowly push herself up, her hair hanging in front of her tired eyes.

She groggily looked toward the bathroom, figuring I would be there before she spotted me.

We just looked at each other, me seeing her slow blinks as she decided on something.

She then got herself out of the bed and dawdled over to our closet.

She held her arms crossed, rubbing her forearm.

I turned my chair, facing her as she moved before she disappeared into it.

I waited silently before she walked out about a minute later.

Where she was previously wearing a tank top and shorts, she now wore my grey hoodie and her sweatpants.

I guess I was expecting her to just go back to bed since I was surprised when I saw her walk over towards me.

Her eyes were open just the slightest amount as she reached me and began to climb onto the chair.

Catching onto what she was trying to accomplish, I lifted my arms as she crawled onto me, sitting so her legs were hanging through the armrests.

I wrapped my arms tight around her as she nuzzled her head against my chest, her arms crossing at my lower back.

I traced random patterns into her back as she relaxed fully against me, my smile never fading.

"I was going to come back, sweetheart, you didn't have to get up," I spoke softly.

She gave a little groan as a response, ultimately showing that her intention was to fall back asleep.

Which I was completely fine with.

Holding her with one arm, and the report with the other I turned the chair back to face my desk.

Except now my focus was completely shifted to the girl in my arms.

I set the report down, now holding her with both arms and basking in her warmth for a few moments.

I've noticed lately how confident she's become, both in her relationship with me and just with how she carries herself in general.

I had noticed it a while back but it seemed to really spike ever since her birthday.

She was just so much more comfortable around me in general.

She still had her nervous moments and her moments of getting flustered, but that added to her charm.

That and the innocence she still carried with her that I so much adored.

I leaned my head down, placing a kiss atop hers.

With all that was going on, I didn't want her to lose any of that.

She deserves to be happy and to live peacefully, and I desperately wanted to make sure she stayed that way.

There's no way I can let the chaos that's going on currently reach her.

And there's absolutely no way in hell I can let my father get anywhere near her.