“Tell me you didn’t kill Sven.”
That startled both of us. He caught his breath, held it, his mossy eyes hurt at the accusation. Hurt and confused. “I already told you that last night.”
“I know. I need to hear it again.”
“I did not kill Sven Rossi.”
It sounded like the truth. It felt like the truth.
But then, wishful thinking had a way of feeling like the truth sometimes.
“Why do you think I would kill him?”
He was whispering. I was whispering too, like somehow, if we didn’t put our voices into the words, that would make this less real.
“Someone saw you. At the bar. With a group of men.”
I almost thought I could hear his heart stop beating.
“Who saw me?”
No denial.
I shook my head. “Truth. I still have seven questions left.”
“So do I.”
“Were you at that bar?”
“Yes.”
Six questions. Technically, by his rules, it was his turn to ask. I wasn’t following his rules.
“Who were they?”
“People I work with.”
“Killers?”
That left me with four questions.
“Delaney...just...” He stepped away, paced toward the kitchen, then back. He stopped and leaned his shoulder on the corner between kitchen and living room, right next to my little breakfast nook. He crossed his arms over his chest.
“How many times do I have to tell you I’m not involved in Sven’s death? How many times do I have to tell you I don’t know who was?”
I watched his eyes, watched the tension in his shoulders, his mouth. Part of what he said was a lie. Or maybe all of it.
“Only once if it’s the truth.”
He ground at his molars, watching me. I watched him back.
“I had nothing to do with Sven’s death.”
Your blood killed him.Those words locked right behind my teeth, but I couldn’t get them past my lips. I wanted to tell him what I knew. Come clean. Not just about Sven’s murder. About everything. About Ordinary, the creatures, the gods. His blood used as ichortechne.
Could he explain that?
I wanted to trust him. That was my problem. I wanted to tell him I knew he had to be involved, and I wanted him to have a reason, an irrefutable explanation that would clear him of this crime for good.
