Chapter 42 #2
Lexington must have shot a command into her mind, because the next second she fell back into Lander again with a blank expression slapped over her face.
I trotted alongside Lexington until he’d pushed me up against the empty stairwell around the corner, where nobody could hear us.
Take out your knife and press it against your heart.
His command was more sudden than I anticipated. For the first time, I could actually feel the strings of it try to latch onto my consciousness.
Shaking, I yanked my mother’s knife from its sheath and flipped it until the curved point rested just over my left breast, dimpling my skin.
“Good, good,” Lexington mused.
I expected him to worm into my mind like he always used to, but he paused to observe me with his lip curled in disgust.
“It’s been months, girl. Dyonisia is getting impatient for a status update that I haven’t been able to give her, because you’re here playing dress up at a frilly little ball instead of working on acquiring what you promised me.”
At those last few words, my grip tightened on the knife, pressing it a fraction of an inch deeper into my skin.
A pinprick of pain flared against me where a warm bead of blood swelled at the point of contact and rolled down between my breasts.
“I’m getting closer,” I rasped.
“How close? When can you get me those pills?”
My hand pushed the point of the blade in even deeper.
“This weekend!” I burst out, forcing out the fraction of the truth I could give him—the pills would be ready this weekend.
But I knew I needed to provide a few more maybe-not-quite-as-true details to make it believable.
“Steeler said he’s taking me to the ship this weekend,” I made up.
“That’s where the pills are made and stored.
And I’ll have direct access to them because he trusts me completely now. ”
Lexington exhaled heavily through his parted mouth. I’d barely had time to smell his breath on my face when he fell with a thud into my mind, the giant worm of his consciousness sliding right up to mine.
“Are you lying to me?” that worm asked.
I willed my consciousness to stare straight ahead. To pretend like I wasn’t a Mind Manipulator, that I didn’t see him invading my icescape with his fleshy presence.
“No,” I said out loud.
To my surprise, Lexington withdrew without tunneling through my gate for any further information. A frown yanked on his mouth, deep and assessing.
“The pills don’t make you truly love him, right?”
“No,” I said again.
“So you wouldn’t care about all the other traitors he grew up with in Hallow’s Perch?”
I kept my face a careful portrait of appropriate fear even as my heart plummeted to my feet at the thought of that lighthouse and the faeries who met us there every weekend.
Steeler’s friends. My friends now, too. This was clearly a way to test my reaction to a deeper threat, and I was determined to pass it.
To pretend like those words didn’t sink into my gut like stones.
“No. I wouldn’t care.”
Lexington surveyed me as if he’d never quite seen me before now. The trails of his eyes seemed to leave sticky residues all over my face.
“Good,” he said finally, grabbing the edges of his cloak and turning to leave.
“I’ll give you until the end of this weekend to secure the pills, girl.
If you don’t follow through by then, I’ll let Dyonisia know that you have failed your mission and must face retribution for your crimes.
Oh, and…” He paused with his back to me.
“If you see your roommate around, go ahead and disable her with that.” He jerked his head back at my knife still pressed against my own chest. “She’s been spying on confidential government affairs. ”
I waited several minutes after he’d rounded the corner before I finally allowed myself to remove the blade against my skin and slide it back into its sheath.
You knew? I sent out toward the dark, fathomless presence I could feel hovering on the periphery of my mind.
That you managed to shake off his command in time but decided to play along anyway?
Steeler replied, slipping through the crack in my blockade.
I closed it back up as soon as his consciousness was safe inside, shielding our thoughts from outsiders.
Yes. Your wrist wasn’t quivering with enough resistance.
A growl caressed the edge of his voice. I would have torn out his throat if you’d been in any real danger.
Every coherent thought in my brain got stuck in an endless swirl. Steeler had trusted me. Not only that, but he’d known me well enough to see through my deception. Had paused long enough to notice my tells before jumping in to save me…
Which made something vital inside me feel like it was melting away at the edges.
How’s Dazmine? I asked instead of trying to respond to that.
I still felt the ring of Lexington’s last words in my ears: she’s been spying on confidential government affairs.
So Mr. Gleekle had spotted her in the jungle that day and passed the information along to the Good Council.
Lexington must have been on his way to wipe her memory of what she’d witnessed.
He’d probably never expected to discover that she knew so, so much more than that.
Safe on the ship, Steeler said. I stayed until she passed the Old Veracious test, or I would’ve returned sooner.
A breath of relief whooshed out of me, even while that guilt still clawed at my stomach. Dazmine was off the island, out of Lexington’s reach—but still surrounded by a ship-full of lethal faeries who’d held a magic sword to her neck in greeting.
I doubt Terrin will let any of them get within two feet of her, actually.
Under normal circumstances, I might have pressed Steeler for details about the reasoning behind that mischievous tone. But at the mention of Terrin…
Did you hear what Lexington said about your friends?
Steeler’s growl returned, nearly vibrating in my own chest. Yes. But there’s no way he could get to them while they’re on the ship. Even twenty faeries would be enough to best the entire Good Council. He was just gauging your reaction, Rayna. And you did so, so brilliantly.
The warmth of his pride crashed straight through me, sending my blood thrumming through my veins.
I tried to hide it by poking my head around the corner to survey the state of the foyer.
Lexington had vanished, but everyone still stood in frozen little groups, shifting from foot to foot uncomfortably and murmuring in low voices, the musical instruments suspended by a shelf of stagnant air overhead.
Emelle was the only one moving through the crowd, her eyes scurrying around the room as Lander hurried after her.
“Hey.” I popped out and met her halfway.
“Rayna?” Her gaze drifted down to the pinprick on my chest, and the worry on her face deepened. “What was that about? Why did Kitterfol Lexington haul you off?”
I made myself give a confused shake of my head. “I guess he just thought I knew where Dazmine went since I was the last person to have seen her.” When Emelle’s eyes sharpened, I added, “We showed up at the ball around the same time, but I don’t know where she went.”
It was my first official lie to Emelle, and even though I’d just witnessed firsthand what would await her if I gave away the truth, the guilt in my stomach… it only dug its claws deeper into me.
Lander scratched his head. “What do you think Dazmine could have done to get this kind of search party?”
“Any number of things,” I muttered.
My attention skidded over their heads to connect with Rodhi, still mingling with that same group of friends across the room. He raised his glass to me in a silent toast and drained it in two thick chugs.
I smiled back. You’re welcome.
I’d almost let my shoulders relax when a high-pitched voice pushed into the foyer and all the tension radiated back into the room.
It wasn’t an elite this time. It was Cilia, closely followed by Mitzi, Norman, and Pierson. Her frantic gaze snagged on Emelle and me and she came running, hiking up her bright pink dress.
“They’ve trashed our damn room!” she wailed. “Our beds, our drawers, everything!” She sank to her knees and buried her face into her hands. “My favorite pillow is ripped to shreds.”
Emelle and I found each other’s looks of horror.
I didn’t give a damn about my pillows. But if a bunch of elites had torn through everything that lived in our room…
I was already running at the thought of a little gray mouse.