She was gone before I could speak, leaving me in a cold gust beneath rustling branches.
I followed my own footprints back to the inn, pressing the rune stone into the same boulder by the inn’s sign out front before returning to my duties as the innkeeper.
“Hey, Cassian! Where’d you go?” Jasmine asked.
“I went on a walk to read Grandpa’s letter,” I said.
“What did it say?”
I scrutinized her face, trying to see any hint of deception on it, but she was the same girl I grew up with. The same girl I swam with in the river on hot summer days. The same girl who was always there for me on bad nights like this one.
How could she do this to me?
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
I guess I’d been staring too long. “Nothing,” I said, looking away. “Grandpa wanted the inn to go to you if I couldn’t cut it. Did you know that?”
“Oh, really? I, uh… No, I didn’t know that.” That sounded like deception. But why would she lie about that unless she was guilty?
“So… Have you made any progress searching for rune stones?” I didn’t know why, but I had a feeling she’d say no.
“No.” Big surprise. “We still just have the one.”
I paused. “Which one?”
“The one you moved,” she said.
I hadn’t told her about that. I turned to watch her with a furrowed brow. “Did Willo tell you?” I asked.
Her eyes widened briefly, and then she smiled. “I guess I forgot to mention it.”
“Interesting,” I said, watching her closely. I had an opportunity here to test my reality, but I couldn’t mess it up. “Did Willo tell you where we moved it?”
“Out front, right? Near the sign?” she asked.
My heart sank, and I understood what Ponsaria had been trying to tell me. I had good intentions in bringing Jasmine here, and I had good intentions in choosing family over my boyfriend, but despite my good intentions, I’d made the wrong choice.
I was alone when I moved the stone. Not even Willo knew where it was. She would only know where it was if she had placed the stones herself.
Sterling was right. It was Jasmine.
“Great. I’m glad she told you,” I said. My tone was tenser than I intended. I should’ve been devastated, but I was furious. How had she stood beside me all this time pretending to care while she was the reason I thought I was failing? She was the reason the rest of us had no money while she kept her inheritance all to herself, just waiting to snatch mine from me the moment I gave up.
What could I do? She obviously wouldn’t admit it. I couldn’t contact the Force again since I’d called off the investigation, and Sterling wouldn’t want to see me, anyway. Maybe Willo could help.
I stood up. “Can you watch the counter for me? I need to talk to Griffin.”
“I’ll come with you!” Jasmine said cheerfully. “It’s slow tonight anyway.”
I couldn’t think of a reason not to let her join me, so I reluctantly agreed.
There was only one person in the pub when we arrived, and he was chatting with Griffin. I remembered what my grandfather had mentioned about our shared fascination with strangers and wondered if he preferred working with similar people. Or maybe this was a regular, and Griffin was adding up his hellos.
“Gimme just a minute, Tad,” Griffin said, patting the counter as he walked away to address us. “Hey, kids. Is there a problem?”
There was a big problem, but it had insisted on following me in here. “Is Willorunia available soon?” I said.
“‘Fraid not. Sorry, Cassian. Winter’s always busy for her. Maybe I can pass along the message?” he asked.
