Xander's POV:

"Prince Alexander, please. I swear it wasn't me. I-I swear on my life!" The boy in front of me cowered, nearly on the verge of tears.

He wasn't the first that I've brought down to that.

The room was thick with the stench of fear, every boy here rightfully worrying about what would happen if they were found to be the guilty one.

Panic and Guilt were difficult to differentiate in a situation where most of them are already scared.

And thus, every time I thought I heard even a semblance of guilt, I pressed harder just to make sure.

I was almost done here with a few boys left, everyone else having proved their innocence.

Leaving every boy I dismissed and let leave more shaken than the last.

The list of potential suspects grew smaller and smaller along with my patience.

The only thing growing now was my frustration.

I glared down at the one in front of me. It was one whose scent I had memorized from the first day they got to lay their eyes on our girls.

"You sure?" I pressed, a growl teasing my words "I've seen the way you look at them when you think no one is watching."

He took a half step back, definitive guilt showing after that, but not at what happened last night.

Dammit.

"S-sir I swear, it's never been anything more than a look, and I never planned on ever having it be anything different," The words spilled messily out of his mouth, "I've never even talked to Khloe or Doe."

I didn't like hearing her name leave his mouth.

All of the internal variables I was constantly listening in on told me that those words were true.

My sigh turned into a grunt, pinching the bridge of my nose.

"You can go," I dismissed him, and he scurried out particularly quick.

I turned my head to the rest I had to go through.

Three of them remained, and each avoided eye contact.

Though the last boy didn't look nearly as nervous as his compatriots.

I kept my eye on him, something not sitting quite right with him right off the bat, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

The two before him both proved to be innocent relatively quickly, both taking the strategy of giving me their Alabi straight away and having their body tell me that they were being honest.

A boringly quick way to get it over with, though I could still see that the anticipation of waiting to get it over with had a very tight grip on both.

Which could only mean that the culprit was the one boy that was left.

His disposition changed slightly after I dismissed the boy in front of him, the first hint of well-hidden worry showing itself.

I turned to face him, catching myself as soon as his full scent caught my nose.

Now that I was fully focused on his.

It was the same scent as the one on Doe's hand yesterday.

The connection sent an ache through my fangs, that fact alone given the situation being enough to almost completely set me off.

He spoke before I could.

"Look, I know this looks bad on my part, but it wasn't me," he stated.

"The circumstances would prove otherwise," I responded.

I searched all of these boys thoroughly. I was confident that I didn't make a mistake.

"It would appear that they do," He took a moment, looking to his right where the line of boys no longer existed, "I honestly didn't think you'd make it to me since I didn't do it. The guilty one had to have been in front of me. I'm innocent."

My eyes narrowed at his claim.

For a variety of different reasons, but one, in particular, was that he was telling me the truth.

He wasn't the one to drug Khloe last night.

But still... something about him didn't sit right with me.

His scent on Doe was one of many, but that wasn't the problem I was facing currently.

For all, I know she could have simply nudged her hand against him in passing.

That possessiveness of her I couldn't dissuade loved immediately assuming the worse.

But I wasn't at all just going to push these strange feelings to the side. Especially not now.

"Get out of here then," I dismissed, turning my back on him, but keeping an ear on his calm footsteps.

I went through everyone here, and not even a single lead out of anyone.

This... certainly wasn't what I was expecting out of this.

The person who did this was still out there somewhere.

A sinking feeling loomed over me.

What if I did mess this up? What If I made a mistake somewhere along the line

What if I just let the culprit walk away because I-

No.

I shook off the feeling.

That couldn't be the case. Not this time.

The anger made me focus. It was what I held to in order to concentrate.

I didn't mess this up... I couldn't have.

The stakes were too high for me to have made a careless mistake.

But none of this made any sense.

Even then... Even as a failure, It was a step closer to the right answer.

I looked towards the booth the other three were at, seeing Lily rise from it and leave with an agitated pinch between her brows.

It was written all over her how disheartening this circumstance was to her.

She adored Doe and Khloe and was very particular about who she let in her kitchen.

I can't imagine speaking to Nico right now is a very comfortable activity either, though I don't think I would have been much easier if the situation was flipped.

Drawing in a slow breath, My claws retracted and my eyes returned to their normal shape.

I didn't have to stray far from my path to meet her, head lifting from the floor once she was close.

Her eyes wide almost immediately, "Alexander, I-"

"Xander," I calmly corrected her.

It was painfully obvious how high-strung this had made her.

"How are you doing?" I asked.

Her lips pressed together tight, releasing a shaky exhale in an effort to ease herself.

"I don't understand how someone could have done this," She spoke softly.

She pulled the one and only key to this kitchen out of her apron pocket.

"I had this with me all night. I locked everything up just like always. No one should have been able to use my kitchen for such a heinous act." I think I caught a hint of growing anger in her words.

Which in a way made me feel a tad bit better.

Nico and I weren't the only ones looking out for these girls.

"I want you to know that we're not holding this against you, Lily. We know this wasn't your fault."

The older woman nodded, placing the key back in its spot.

"I'll keep an ear out for anything. People like to talk while they eat, and forget that I'm there. I'll let one of you know if I hear anything."

"We appreciate that. And thank you for looking out for them." I said.

My words looked to have diminished a good portion of her stress.

"I'm headed in to make Khloe something that'll hopefully spread up her recovery. Can I whip up something for you and Doe as well?"

Even after all that, she wants to jump right back into things.

"We'll take two of whatever you have laying around. Don't stress yourself too much today."

She gave me a small 'thank you' before toddling back towards the kitchen.

I finished my short journey over to the booth that just now contained Marcus and Nico.

I fell dramatically into the sweet beside my brother with a sigh that showed pretty well how I felt about this entire thing.

"Anything?" Nico asked.

"Literally nothing," I gave to him "Not even one slight dishonest heartbeat from any of them."

There was barely a second of silence before he asked his next question.

"Where was Doe last night."

I glared.

I know he was stressed about all of this and wanted to cover his bases, but that was a little too far.

"If you're thinking about trying to blame this on her, then I'm gonna stop you right here. A, she's like best buds with Khloe, and B, she was with me the whole night."

And had my complete attention throughout.

"Yeah, I figured, but I have no other leads, so I thought I'd give it a shot." He replied.

As I thought.

I glanced at Marcus, who had a very similar look to Lily.

Though the way he was sitting was almost restless.

From how things were adding up, Marcus was the only suspect left that could have pulled it off, but I didn't consider that true for even a second.

The whole reason he was here, to begin with, was that he looked out for Khloe when Nico couldn't.

"You got nothing?" I questioned, already seeing the answer written on Nico's face.

"Only that whoever it was apparently doesn't reside on this floor," He grit, my intel finally pulling together that conclusion.

But that fact made even less sense.

I could fathom a reason for the people of this floor to attempt that, but couldn't come up with anything logical of what Nico said was true.

"Then why the hell would they-"

"Yeah, Xan I'm wondering the same."

"Um, Nico," Marcus' voice cut in, drawing both of our attention.

There was a new resolve written in his eyes.

"I uh- I think I know how to find out who did this for sure, but I'll need your help."

My brows rose at the confidence tone behind how he sputtered that sentence.

But it was enough. It was a lead.

"What do you need?"

Oh, Nico was ready to give him anything at this point.

Hell, I'd help too if he needed.

That confidence shied away a moment before he asked his question.

"How do I hide my scent?" he asked.

Nico and I exchanged a look.

That wasn't something we shared so easily, but with Marcus...

"From who?" Nico inquired lowly.

Marcus gulped.

"The Lord."

We all fell into silence.

There's no way Marcus planned on sneaking around my parents for this information.

If he did, then well... He had some serious guts.

I turned to Nico, watching the internal debate going on in his head.

"Meet me in the northernmost supply closet. There are some things I need to grab from my room first."

Holy shit he's going through with this.

Marcus hurriedly nodded and rose to his feet, dismissing himself to start some preparations himself it would seem.

Nico and I watched him leave.

"Sneaking around Mom and Dad's floor? Really?" I asked as soon as he was gone.

Nico let out a long breath, sinking deeper into the seat.

"I don't know either, but I'll take any ideas at this point if it will lead me to an answer."

He rubbed his eyes, bringing more attention to the exhaustion behind them.

"He knows his way around royals. I'm sure he'll be fine." He finished.

"And if Mom or Dad catches him sneaking around with a nullified scent?"

I wanted answers as much as Nico did, but I also didn't want any good people residing here getting hurt for them.

"You heard him," He began, "If he wants to go there to look for answers on his own accord, then I'm not going to stop him. He's the only hope we've got in finding out why this happened. Have some trust in him."

I guess...

This whole situation just felt... off.

I began to scooch out of the booth after Nico nudged my arm.

"I'm gonna go help him get ready. Can you do me a favor and drop off Khloe's food once it's ready. Just set it by the door and knock. I'll let her know to expect it."

"You got it," I responded.

"Thank you. I-" his words died for a moment as he just sort of looked at me, "Thank you for all the help with this. I really do appreciate it."

Jeez, Nico's 'Thank you's were almost as awkward as Doe's.

But in the same way it made me appreciate them more.

There were obvious differences between them, of course.

I knew Nico and I recovered pretty fast from my idiotic mistakes in the past, but some things just felt better than others as they returned to me.

Like this complete unwavering trust. The reliability.

"It's good to have you back, Xan," He finished genuinely.

I smiled at him with a knowing incline of my head.

"It's good to be back, Nico."