Officer Warwick, who had been leaning against the wall adjacent to the door, took two long strides to meet me. “Commander Hudson would like to have a word with you.”

When would this endless cycle end? We got to the end of the hall and Officer Warwick swung open the door to Commander Hudson’s office. I stepped into the dated office. Commander Hudson was waiting for me behind his desk. “Ms. Montgomery, please have a seat.”

He spent the next twenty minutes quizzing me about everything the strange woman had said to me. Once he ran out of questions, his all-business façade dropped. He looked at me with genuine compassion and said, “I am so sorry, Avery, that you went through that.”

My eyes widened a little. It was the first time he had used my first name, and from his voice, it seemed that he was actually genuine.

“She shouldn’t have been able to get in here.” His brow furrowed. “I’m going to get to work on your release papers right away. Then you’ll be free to go.”

Apparently almost getting strangled to death is a get-out-of-jail-free card, and I wasn’t about to argue with that.

Chapter Eleven

It had only been two days since I’d sat in the waiting room with Vlad and Adrian waiting to hear about my punishment. But now I was getting out, and I couldn’t wait any longer. I was still shaken from this afternoon’s events but the freedom that I longed for was within my grasp—just as soon as Commander Hudson finished dealing with the documentation needed for my release.

Heavy footsteps echoed down the hallway, and I looked up from my trembling hands to see Hudson appear from the hall. “Ms. Montgomery.”

He knew that I didn’t want any trouble that might delay my release. “Commander Hudson.”

“There are a few conditions of your release,” he said succinctly, brows ascending. “Upon signing this,”—he passed me an official-looking document, complete with a Court seal—“you are not allowed to discuss what has happened here today with anyone.”

A nondisclosure agreement. As I skimmed through the page, he handed me a pen, then I quickly signed my name at the bottom.

“Am I good to go now?” I asked.

“Not quite. There’s one further condition.” Seeming to find amusement in his sentence, he chuckled, and for the first time since I had met him, he did not seem so stiff.

“What is it?” I asked warily.

“You aren’t allowed to join any activities of the Gathering until further notice, and you have to avoid any confrontation, verbal and physical, with Lord Domenico Aegeus Ferraro.”