Page 34 of Semper

Delacroix.

Erebus.

I paused, my eyes narrowing as I traced the line connecting the Erebus family. A chill ran down my spine. Erebus.That name—it was familiar. Too fucking familiar. It clicked. The Erebus men owned the resort where I worked before all this. The same resort where Anya used to gush about the beautiful, mysterious men who seemed untouchable as if they belonged to another world.

My stomach churned and I swallowed hard, my pulse quickening with the realization. They weren’t just wealthy men running a business.

They were part of the same twisted web in which I was now entangled. Now I knew why they’d hosted that damn trade show. As I stared at the names, a new kind of fear began to creep in, tightening its grip around my chest. How deep did this rabbit hole go?

How many pieces had been moved and carefully manipulated, to keep me exactly where he wanted me? The thought sent a shiver down my spine, and I couldn't shake the feeling that my entire life had been orchestrated, each step leading me closer to where I was then.

I vividly recalled the day Anya, and I first got the job at the resort. We’d been looking for something better, something that paid more and didn’t involve greasy diner uniforms or handling raw chicken. Then, out of nowhere, the offer came. Shana approached us at a coffee shop, offering positions at the exclusive Erebus resort with the excuse two girls had just quit.

A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, she called it, and Anya had been ecstatic. She couldn’t stop talking about the pay, the benefits, and, of course, the beautiful men who practically ran the place. I hadn’t been as convinced, but Anya? She had a way of making everything sound like an adventure.

I compared it to the night she’d said that same script to get us inside the room where Alexander was. Now I wondered—had it really been a coincidence? Or was that the first move in a game I didn’t even know I was playing? Had they been watching me, watching us, from the very beginning? The pages of the book blurred as my mind raced. How many times had I unknowingly followed a path that led me right into Alexander’s hands?

There were a few other names mentioned in passing, but those four surnames specifically repeated over and over again.

The Alistairs, however, held the spotlight, dominating the pages like a dark sun around which all the others revolved. Their line stretched back for generations, centuries even, each one inheriting the twisted mantle of leadership within the Impío faith. They were a legacy bound not just to this Isle but across the United States, tendrils of influence weaving far beyond these shores.

It became clear why they were what they were now. They had built an empire on blood, sacrifice, and devotion to the dark power that ruled this place, and now stretched not only across the Isle but into unseen corners of the world.

A knock at the door startled me, pulling me from the pages of the book and my troubled thoughts. My focus drifted away from the tangled web of Isle history I had been trying to unravel.

"Mistress Lolita?" Ambrose’s voice was calm, as always, but his presence still carried a certain weight. I was growing more comfortable with him, but this unexpected interruption made me tense. I glanced up from the book and watched him step into the room, always so composed, the picture of quiet authority.

"Yes?" I asked, setting the book down gently.

"You have a visitor," he announced with his usual serene tone. "Shall I send her away, or would you like to see her?"

"A visitor? Who is it?" I asked, my mind still half-clinging to the intricate bloodlines I had been sifting through.

"Esther," he replied smoothly. "She’s waiting in the foyer."

I blinked, a little caught off guard. Esther? I hadn’t seen her in what felt like ages, since before Nicolette was punished. "Why would I send her away?"

"Because this is your home, Mistress," Ambrose replied with a slight smile. "You do not have to see her or anyone else out of any obligation."

"Oh..." I trailed off, feeling the strangeness of the moment wash over me. "Right."

I closed the book in front of me, gathering myself. "I would like to see her," I said after a pause.

Ambrose nodded in return. "She’s waiting in the foyer.”

"Thank you," I said, standing up from the chair.

"Always my pleasure," he added, smiling faintly before leaving the room.

Once he was gone, I slipped the book back onto its shelf, its weight heavy in my hands, not just from its size but from the information within. I turned away from it and headed downstairs.

I wondered where Esther had been and what had kept her away. As soon as I reached the bottom of the stairs and saw her standing there, a smile spread across her face. Esther, with her striking resemblance to her brother, rushed toward me, her arms wide open. "Gosh, Lo, I am so sorry I had to leave without saying goodbye!" she exclaimed, pulling me into a hug before I even had time to react.

Caught off guard for the second time in a matter of minutes, I hesitated, but then wrapped my arms around her, returning the embrace. Despite everything, I found myself grateful for the genuine warmth in her touch, for the way she treated me like an old friend and not with the reverence everyone else did. And really, it was nice to see another person. Keres and Pandora were under the same restrictions as I was, which meant we only saw one another at the Chapel.

There was Verity, but she only spoke if I started a conversation with her first, our stations were too different to form any kind of friendship. That left Alexander as my main source of social interaction, and though he did eat with me every night, he was always gone during the day. So, yeah. It was nice to see Esther again.

"Where have you been?" I asked, my voice softer now as I pulled back, my curiosity overtaking any awkwardness.