Lo’s voice echoed my sentiments as she walked back to us. “Amen, sister.”
It seemed he wasn’t ready to accept my words, though, opting to switch the topic of conversation, but I wasn’t going to give up on making him see the truth of them eventually. “We’ve put out the call for a shadow witch to come and pull the location that’s Jeoffrey’s hidden from her mind if we can’t get it from her ourselves, but they won’t be here until tomorrow morning.”
Anxiety poured through me, hating to leave Serena with him any longer than necessary. Taking a deep breath, I reminded myself that I had to have faith that she would be okay until we could get to her.
“We have three more meetings,” Lo announced, glancing down at her watch. “Let’s get those done and see if we can pull anything else out of them. After that, you and Iareactually going to train now that you have Devorare.”
While I knew I should be focused on training and honing my skills, there was a nervous energy pouring through me, putting me on edge. I was distracted, and I wasn’t sure I’d be able to concentrate at all on lessons today.
“Okay,” I murmured as chills broke out over my skin.
With a last glance over my shoulder to make sure Silvyn was definitely contained, I focused my attention back on the path ahead of us. Something didn’t feel right, and I had a burning urge to take everyone far, far away from here.
Stop stressing, Alina. You’re being paranoid.
Chapter22
ALINA
“I’ve never had a good feeling about Jeoffrey,” Heather murmured, eyes narrowed and lips pinched tightly. “We all play nice to not rock the boat. Plus, he’s above me in his station, so I never felt like I could say anything since I’m just a Pawn.”
Lo moved to sit on the edge of the table near her, placing a reassuring hand on Heather’s shoulder. “Every member on the board is equal in importance, hon. A game of chess can’t be won without every single piece on the board doing their job perfectly.” She stopped and threw her hand in the air, scoffing. “Hell, if Pawns play the game perfectly, those on the back line don’t even need to do anything. So I’d go as far as to say Pawns and Rooks are the most important pieces as the first line of defense.”
Heather glanced up, admiration and respect bleeding through her blue eyes. A smile tugged at her lips for the first time since she’d been in the room with us. “Thank you, Lo. Jeoffrey and Silvyn have often put many of us down in private.”
“You know the best part about being underestimated?” Lo retorted with a laugh that had her head shaking. “They never see you coming when you shove a blade into their neck. They’re idiots for dismissing anyone.”
As Lo stood and returned to her seat next to us, Heather’s gaze slid to Drake and me, bouncing back and forth as she asked, “Is there anything I can do to help? You have my sword, always.”
Drake had remained quiet during the meetings with Rin and Elaine, allowing Lo to take the lead. She was intense, but also delicate as she tried to play to their emotions. I’d followed Drake’s lead and stayed silent, opting to watch for body language and facial cues to try to glean their tells.
Although, as we watched earlier, I noticed that there seemed to be something weird that passed between Rin and Lo. Their gazes lingered longer and in a different manner. Almost like…past lovers? Current lovers?
What do you think of Heather, Rin, and Elaine?
I’ve had a good feeling about Heather ever since the night of my introduction party. My gut says she’s to be trusted. I can’t say the same about Rin or Elaine. They were both tense and struggled to meet your eyes for longer than a few seconds.
Do you think it’s just their nerves of being suspect, or do you think they’re guilty?
I think they’re guilty. What about your meetings with Joely, Tania, and Kiyomi this morning? Obviously, Tania ratted out Silvyn, but was it to save her own ass and draw suspicion off of her? Andrei said his father needed him on the board to have a majority, so that means if Rin, Elaine, Silvyn, and Jeoffrey are all on one side, there should be one more to give them a majority.
Having Andrei on their side would put them only at six to our six, with not all the board positions filled. That’s not a majority.
Wrong. It puts them six to your five. Jeoffrey was concocting this plan before I became Queen, remember?
I shifted in my chair, hips aching from sitting so damn straight for hours despite the plush leather chairs being comfortable enough.
Lo let out a heavy sigh, “Sorry, Heather. They do this thing where they have private, mental conversations and make everyone else around them wait awkwardly.”
Drake rolled his eyes, and I couldn’t hold back the single, short laugh that bubbled out of me.
Lo’s words confirmed that she believed Heather was on our side, though. She wasn’t this relaxed around Rin or Elaine.
“Heather,” Drake started, leaning forward to rest his hands on the table as he stared her down, almost daring her to squirm. She didn’t, though, maintaining unwavering eye contact as he asked, “Who else do you think might be on Jeoffrey’s side? It seems like there is a lot being hidden from the three of us since many fear Lo and I, and Alina is just joining us.”
I was shocked by his straightforward question to her, but quickly rationalized that it made sense to ask her if she truly was on our side. If she wasn’t, she could cast suspicion onto those who were loyal to us, to make us waste time chasing the wrong people.
I was intrigued to see if her suspicions were the same as ours.
