A Crown Of Shadows And Secrets - Sloane Murphy Page 0,111

her gently, his face softening as he smiles at her.

“A Demon from the sixth level.” She smiles when she answers him and it’s like her whole face lights up. She’s obviously a Demon, but I’ve not seen one so young before.

“If you’ll ask him to wait, I’ll be out in a moment,” he tells her and she pops out of sight again.

“Who was that?” I ask him, watching him closely.

“That, is our daughter,” he says quietly and my eyes go wide. “But that little fact doesn’t leave this room.” His pointed tone brokers no argument, but I wouldn’t have said anything anyway. He likely knows that which is why he told us.

“Of course. She looks like your mini, Morgan.”

“She does, she brings such joy in some very dark times, but we try to keep her hidden from as many people as we can. Even most people who stay here do not know she is ours, despite the resemblance,” Morgan says sadly. “There are too many here who would hurt her just to get to us.”

“I can’t imagine many people wanting to incur your wrath,” Levi says lowly.

“The few are enough for the measures to be necessary.” Caleb tells us, while the others remain quiet.

“Who is her father?” Kain asks from further down the table and Bryce is the one to answer him.

“We all are. A small part of each of us, of our power, created her. Another reason to keep her hidden.”

“Holy crap, that’s a lot of power in a tiny package.” Creek laughs.

“Something like that,” Killian agrees solemnly.

“I’ll go see who it is that wants an audience, and then we’ll head out to the final levels today,” Caleb says, wiping his mouth with a napkin and standing before disappearing from sight.

The guys talk amongst themselves, discussing who will be checking where, and with who, while I push my breakfast around my plate, still feeling off.

“Are you okay?” Morgan asks me quietly and I give her a tight smile as Levi squeezes my thigh, without missing a beat in his conversation.

“I am, I just… I’m sorry about yesterday,” I tell her quietly.

“You have nothing to be sorry about, Mara. I knew the risks going in, I should have prepared myself better. Prepared us both. But I’m fine, Malik shouldn’t have reacted the way he did, but that’s for you and him to talk about.”

“It’s fine, I get it. My guys probably would have done the same if it had been the other way around.”

“Oh I know, I heard about the alpha face off.” She chuckles as she takes a sip of her coffee. “But it is what it is.”

Caleb reappears with another guy beside him, a giant smile on his face. “You guys are going to want to hear this.”

“Deacon, what the fuck are you doing here?” Bryce asks, tensing all over, while Deacon glares at him. There’s obviously some sort of history between the two of them, but Morgan rolls her eyes and I try not to laugh at her. Apparently this tension is nothing new.

“I’m guessing that you’re Remy,” the new guys says to me, and I feel the tension in the room increase as my guys go on alert again.

“Who wants to know?” Roman asks, his voice practically lethal.

“I’m Deacon, Azriel's second on level six… I’m also Fallon’s keeper.” His face contorts, as if he’s ashamed of his words, but my heart races.

“You’re fucking what?” I gasp. “Where is she? Why didn’t you bring her with you?”

“Mara, you’re going to need to prepare yourself,” Caleb says softly, taking his seat opposite me, while waving his hand and another seat appears between him and Bryce, which Deacon sits in, almost begrudgingly.

“What the fuck does that mean?” Creek asks, his shoulders tensing while my heart sinks.

“It means,” Deacon sighs. “That Azriel did what he does best. He made a deal for his own gain. The Hunter he’s working with delivered him a package to tip his hand.”

“The human who entered the realm?” Caleb asks and Deacon nods.

“Who was it?” Kain asks, while Levi stays silent, watching the Demon intently.

“Her little sister, Rebel.”

“Fuck!” Creek shouts, standing and shoving his chair back with enough force it clears the room, but disappears before hitting the wall. “What the fuck did he do to Rebel?”

I sit in stunned silence. I can’t believe Archer stooped so low. I knew he was a monster, but Rebel is eight. Eight. Children are off limits. Always.

“He didn’t do anything, he just made Fallon think he did. She