The Dark Elf’s Surprise Baby (Secret Babies For Prothekan Dark Elves Book 2)
The Dark Elf’s Surprise Baby: Chapter 27

I’m frustrated as all glacies by the time I get back. What an utter disaster. It took hours for help to arrive and then it was so late I nearly missed picking up the ring.

And then the jeweler couldn’t find my order anywhere. He finally remembered it was in his safe when I threatened to cancel my order and demand a refund and then do my best to put him out of business.

Thank the Thirteen that I was able to hire another cab from the jewelers to take me home but by now it’s already midnight and I’m sure Harper is asleep.

Gods, I had the worst luck today. My carriage has a broken axle and that’s why the wheel popped off. It needs to be repaired before I can use it again. I limp into the house, exhausted and so ready for this day to be over.

I head up the stairs, gripping the banister tightly under my hand. I need to calm down. I need to breathe in Harper’s soft, warm, floral scent. I need to wrap my body around hers and hold onto her until the tension bleeds from my body.

I head into our bedroom and stop short. She’s not in here. Blast it all. She must have gone to lay with Addie then. She might not have wanted to sleep alone. I’ll go find her and wake her up.

I head into my daughter’s room and open the door slowly, trying not to disturb them too much if they’re both asleep. A lamplight is on though and I approach the bed, confused.

Where are they? Neither Addie, nor Harper are in bed. My heart beats faster, the urge to panic rising inside me.

Maybe they went to the kitchen for some warm milk, or maybe a little late night snack? I head downstairs immediately, rushing to the kitchen. I’m sure I’ll find them in there, enjoying thick slices of the bread I made with some fruit preserves and giggling together over something cute Addie said.

I pull up short though when I swing open the kitchen door and it’s quiet and dark inside.

“Addie!” I call out. “Harper!” No one answers. “Addie!” I yell. “Harper!”

I start running around, trying to find them. Where could they possibly have gotten off to? Are they in the library? My office?

My search is fruitless and my heart is pounding in my chest. “Addie!” I scream. “Harper!”

The servants are waking up now and they come downstairs, gathering at the foot of the stairs in their nightclothes, confusion on their faces.

“Where are they?” I demand.

“Where is who, Master?” Ivrir asks.

“Addie and Harper!” I yell.

“They aren’t in their beds?” Ivrir’s brow is furrowed.

No!” I scream at him. “No they aren’t you old, doddering fart!”

“Please, Master Demethys,” Ivrir says, reaching out to place a hand on my arm. “You must calm down.”

“Don’t touch me you stupid old man!” I say, jabbing a finger into his chest. “You should have been doing your job and keeping track of her! Of both of them! I’ve kept you around out of kindness to my parents but you should have retired years ago! You’re nothing but a blathering old fool now and you’ve completely screwed up!”

“Master, don’t be hard on Ivrir,” Bryrion steps forward. “He was asleep, just like the rest of us.”

“What if something bad happened to them? It’s very late. Anything could have happened!” I yell at Ivrir. “Then it’s on your head!”

“Master,” my other servant, Mimlai speaks up. “It’s possible that Harper left you. Like she did before. She might have left you for someone else.”

I stop pacing and turn to stare at the girl, squinting my eyes at her.

“She could have lied about never taking a lover,” one of my other maids, Darhine, speaks up. “Maybe she had a lover on the island and only came here to get money from you and then take off with him.”

“She wasn’t right for you anyway,” Bryrion agrees. “She should have stayed away when she left. Humans aren’t good companions for dark elves. They shouldn’t even be allowed to step foot in here.”

The wheels start turning in my head. I stare at Bryrion who looks back at me with wide, innocent eyes. “Harper chose to leave you,” she points out. “She could have stayed but she chose to leave.”

Something isn’t adding up here. Something seems fishy about this whole thing.

“You lied…didn’t you?” I ask, stepping forward. Bryrion gulps and takes a step back.

“What?”

“You lied,” I continue moving forward, a vulgar parody of the same dance I did with Harper once upon a time. “You lied to me. You weren’t misinformed at all. You were the one who told Harper to leave, it was all on you, wasn’t it?”

“Master,” she whimpers, bumping into the wall. “Please! I did what was best for you!”

“You did it! You pushed her away!”

“We should have gotten rid of her a long time ago!” Bryrion shouts, pushed to her limits. “I should have killed her when I had the chance!”

“You monster!” I scream, flying at Bryrion in pure rage. Her eyes widen as I wrap my hands around her neck and begin to squeeze, lifting her from the ground so she is on her tiptoes as I strangle her.

How dare she do this to Harper! To me! “I thought you were loyal! She was your best friend! How could you do this to the woman I love?”

Bryrion is turning purple and kicking out her feet, digging her nails into my hands to force me to let go but my rage is too great.

“Sir!” Ivrir moves quickly, more quickly than I’ve ever seen him move before and he pulls at my hands, trying to get me off of Bryrion. I knock Ivrir away but my grip on Bryrion is weakened and she manages to break free, falling onto her knees and coughing as she massages her neck.

“I’ll kill you!” I shout, going after her again.

“Sir! What you need to do is to look for Miss Harper and Miss Adelaide!” Ivrir yells.

I stop, breathing hard as I stand there, a look of pure venom directed at Bryrion. She looks up at me with horror in her eyes and her compatriots rush to her side to help her up, supporting her.

“You are fired,” I tell Bryrion coldly. “All of you are fired. Ivrir, you are dismissed from my service. If I see any of you here when I get back, I’ll have you all arrested and thrown into jail for a long time.”

The servants all look at me with confusion and a little hesitation and I take a menacing step forward. “Do you hear me? Get out! Leave!”

They scurry around like rodans on a sinking ship, immediately fleeing the house into the night. I don’t care where they go. All I want to know is that they’re gone and out of my sight for good.

I meant what I said. If any of them are still here when I get back, I’m going to have them arrested. Or killed. I haven’t decided yet.

But Ivrir was right. All that matters now is finding Harper. Where would she have gone? What would she have done if she thought that I didn’t want her anymore?

The thought pains me. I know that those girls must have cornered her tonight and fed her lies. They filled her head with taura manure and made her think that I didn’t want her. Or worse, that I only wanted her for Addie.

Gods! How could I have been so blind? So clueless? I should have never given Bryrion a second chance. I should have fired every single one of my staff. They all betrayed me. Ivrir should have retired years ago. He’s too old to run a household and look where that got us.

Even if he hadn’t been entirely to blame for Harper escaping with our daughter, he was blind to the nasty things that the maids did to my poor, lovely Harper.

I have to find my mate. No matter how long it takes, I have to track her down and beg her forgiveness. I have to reassure her that I do love her, and do want her.

Dammit! All those weeks of hard work to build up trust between us, gone in an instant. All that carefully rebuilding our relationship, gone in a puff of smoke.

I wish I had strangled the stupid girl when I had the chance. I would have killed her if I could. I don’t care that it would have landed me in jail. It would have made me feel better knowing that every single threat to my precious girls’ lives was eliminated.

How could I have let my mate and my child in my household with those serpents? I knew that dark elf-human relationships had their detractors but I didn’t honestly think that there were some in my own household.

I thought I culled all the weeds from my garden, as it were, when I fired the ones that Bryrion accused of conspiring to keep Harper away from me. It turns out I still had weeds in my garden after all, and they were slowly trying to choke the life out of my precious flowers.

As I walk the streets searching for them, I despair that I may never see them again. I have to get to Harper before she flees the continent. Where would she have gone?

Well…there’s only one place I would go if I thought the person I love betrayed me.

I know where she is now.

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