Somnus snorts, and I thank the gods as he falls for the bait. "As if their little movement won't blow over in a few measly decades. We seek a far more pressing threat."
I try to channel Maven and keep my expression blank because it's not difficult to work out his meaning now that I know there's a prophesiedtelum…as in, Maven. She's the Entity's weapon, and I can only assume she's a danger to the Immortal Quintet.
So they're no longer looking for Hearst's killer at all.
They've started looking forher.
My theory is confirmed when Del Mar studies me keenly with his pale yellow eyes, his pupils slit like a hydra's, even in his more humanoid form. His forked tongue flicks out briefly to wet his lips.
"I heard your keeper is human-born. Odd that a mere atypical caster has survived so long in such a brutal semester, is it not?"
"She has strong matches, and we will continue to protect her no matter how brutal things become," I reply smoothly, holding his gaze.
"Where is your keeper from, pray tell?" Natalya hums.
I hate that they're asking about Maven, but I hate even more that I'm incapable of lying to protect her if it comes down to it.
You're going to betray her. They'll be after her now, a voice in my head snarls.
She's not strong enough to protect herself from them, and neither are you.
Just let her die already. We hate her. She’s going to end us.
My left eye starts to twitch, but I finally manage, "She wasn't raised in the world of legacies, so I'm afraid her time at Everbound has been quite the adjustment period."
"That's not what I asked, fae," Natalya pouts dramatically, standing to walk around the desk.
The immortal wears a semi-sheer dress better suited for clubbing than interrogating students. She perches just in front of me, her blue eyes penetrating as they start to glow again. She's trying to pluck the truth from my head, and I pray the talisman holds up. I can feel it heating in my pocket.
"Let's try this again. What plane of existence did your keeper come from?"
My pulse is racing with alarm, but I recall that Maven told us she was taken to the Nether as a child. So theabsolutetruth is…
"The mortal realm, of course. Where else?"
"And has she always been in the mortal realm?"
My palms grow damp, and I keep my wording careful. "Where else would she go? Although technically, I've heard we all venture into Limbo when we're unconscious, so I suppose she's been there in that way."
Natalya's hand bolts out lightning-fast to wrap around my neck. I have no access to oxygen as her face twists into a hideous snarl, all that old-world beauty now ugly with anger.
"Don't dare to play games with me. Answer yes or no only. To your knowledge, has your keeper ever crossed through the Divide?"
She flings me back into the chair so I can choke for air and offer an answer, but I will never answer this. I can't. If I do, they'll know the truth.
But if I remain silent, they'll assume the truth just as quickly. There's no way to bend this. My voice will cease to work as it always does whenever a lie tries to pass through my lips.
So, instead, I feign absolute shock. "Throughthe Divide? As in, into the Nether? How would that even be pos?—"
Del Mar moves so fast I don't see him until I'm flung across the room, slamming into the wall. Somnus is there an instant later, fisting my hair to drag me to my feet. He drives a knee into my fresh thigh injury. It's so unexpected and painful that, shamefully, a sharp cry of pain escapes.
Obviously, I've pissed them off. And as Natalya prowls toward me, that same hideous scowl twisting her features and her eyes glowing ominously, I know I'm about to be tortured for information.
Then they'll kill me.
And all I can think about is everything I won't get to experience with Maven if I die here. I won't get to wake up beside her in the morning, taste her mouthwatering blood, or watch the way her dark eyes flash with mesmerizing anger whenever she's angry. I won't get the answers I still desperately want about her. I'll never again get to listen to the intoxicating sounds my beautifully vicioussangfluirmakes in bed or watch her expression turn soft just before I kiss her.
I wonder if she'll weep for me.
