Chapter 89

ALEXANDER

Vanessa stood before me, guilt etched on her face, but I was not in the mood to care. My body hummed with fury, my fists bunched up so tightly my knuckles went white. My heart thundered like a war drum inside my chest, and my breathing was rough, rasping. Raina was not in her room.

And the guilty, dumb expression on Vanessa's face told me she knew exactly why.

"Where is she?" I growled, my voice low, barely controlled.

Vanessa stepped back but didn't reply immediately. Her eyes flashed to the ground, as a coward avoids the eye of a predator.

"I—I'm sorry," she mumbled, wringing her hands in front of her. "I should have known it was a stupid thing to do. I just—I thought I was helping."

Helping?

I let out a bitter, humorless laugh, my head shaking in disbelief. A flush of heat crawled up my back, my eyes growing red.

"Helping?" I growled, and stepped forward, my body casting a shadow over hers. "How in the hell is that ever go