Griffin felt a tremor run through Sofia’s body. “You’re trying to capture Darius?” she asked.
Antoinette nodded. “He took off the night we discovered that he’d been using a concoction of herbs to keep his father in a near comatose state for a decade. I don’t know if you knew this, but Darius had been running the colony, claiming to do it on his father’s behalf when really he was just waiting for the man to die so that he could take over as reeve.”
“Why didn’t he kill him and be done with it?” Griffin asked.
“If it had been discovered that he was behind the reeve’s death, the colony would never have allowed him to be the successor. As it was, with him manufacturing dragon’s blood and getting half the colony addicted, he might have been voted out even if Trennon had died of natural causes. The way Darius handled the situation was, I hate to admit, brilliant.”
Antoinette continued, “He was able to run his drug business completely unencumbered, and he was also able to essentially run the colony, and no one questioned any of it because they assumed the reeve had given his stamp of approval.”
Griffin glanced at Sofia, but she showed no reaction to Antoinette’s words. Still, she must have felt something. He longed to have a moment in private to talk to her about it, even as he knew damn well she wouldn’t. She was too afraid of Darius.
Griffin placed his hand on Sofia’s shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze, trying to tell her without words that he would protect her. It may involve giving her over to someone else’s care, but he would ensure that whatever demons she feared did not touch her.
“Would anyone care for a drink?” Antoinette asked, pausing to stand in front of a section of the counter where an assortment of liquor bottles were lined up in a row. “I can make something, or I have beer in the fridge. Oh, and wine.”
She pulled two Abitas out of the refrigerator. “I’d like one of those,” Griffin said, so she grabbed a third.
“Just water,” Sofia said. Antoinette filled a glass with ice and water from the mechanism built into the door of the fridge. She then offered juice boxes to Henri and Penelope, who both eagerly accepted their prizes.
“Have you had any luck?” Sofia asked as Antoinette led the entourage up the stairs.
“With capturing Darius?” At Sofia’s nod, Antoinette said, “No. We’ve followed up on lead after lead, and it always results in a dead end. I’m not even sure he’s still in the city at this point.”
Sofia shot Griffin a look that he assumed was meant to warn him not to say anything.
“But at least he’s not selling dragon’s blood anymore,” Sofia said as they neared the top of the stairs.
Antoinette sighed. “You’re right. We’re pretty sure he’s been completely shut down in that regard. The problem now is, we think he’s organizing a coup.”
Sofia’s shoulder trembled under Griffin’s touch. “H-how?” She cleared her throat. “What makes you think that?”
Before she could respond, the nearest door opened and a woman stepped out, wearing a towel wrapped around her midsection, water beading on her shoulders and arms, her thick, auburn hair piled onto her head in a messy bun.
“Oh!” she said, pressing her hand to her chest, her eyes widening.
Griffin did not believe her surprised act for a hot second.
“Maria,” Antoinette said, sounding weary. “I know damn well you heard us talking, which means you should have been able to figure out that we had guests. So maybe you could have waited until after we passed to walk out in nothing but a towel?”
Apparently, Antoinette did not believe the act either.
Clutching the towel to her ample breast, Maria let her gaze wander over the small gathering while her lips twitched. But when she noticed Sofia, the almost-smile disappeared and her eyes narrowed. “Who is this?” she demanded.
“Her name is Sofia,” Antoinette supplied. “She’s staying with us for a little while. You are expected to treat her with all the respect due to a friend of your reeve.”
Maria lifted her chin, turned to the left, and flounced down the hall until she reached the next door and disappeared through it.
“That was all for show,” Antoinette explained as she led them in the opposite direction. “That bathroom has a door directly to her bedroom. She didn’t need to come out into the hall at all.”
“Why did she?” Griffin asked.
Antoinette glanced over her shoulder and rolled her eyes. “You, probably. She has a tendency to throw herself at good-looking men.”
Was it his imagination, or was Sofia inching closer to him?
Antoinette paused partway down the hall and opened one of the doors and invited them all to step inside. The room was as large as the apartment above Mitch’s bar and decorated with brilliant blue and green tones. A French door like those downstairs led out onto what appeared to be a balcony that wrapped around the entire house. The bed could easily accommodate him, Sofia, and Penelope all quite comfortably.
Not that he thought he would be staying here. Okay, maybe he was hoping…
“Do you want Penelope to have her own room?” Antoinette asked. Griffin almost opened his mouth until he realized she’d directed the question to Sofia. Of course she did; she had no idea of his connection to the woman and child.
Sofia shook her head. “I’d rather she stay with me, actually.”
Antoinette’s gaze darted to Griffin and jumped away again. “If you change your mind, Henri has bunkbeds, and I’m sure he would not mind if she
