“No.” She fists her hands at her sides. “I don’t have access. Just Seven.” She looks me in the eye and drops her voice. “It would make my job far easier if River didn’t do this, Sophia. Unless we can blame this on another human, Dragonfly is going to take a hit.”
This is why Evangeline is so good at what she does. She understands how precarious our relationship with the outside world actually is. Humans shoot humans all the time outside the parks. Out there, no one would blink twice over this incident. But in here, our ability to draw people into the park is predicated on them feeling safer within our borders than outside of them—safe among beings they believe areother.They don’t think of us as people. Some call us creatures or even monsters. They have no idea what a monster truly is.
I glance in Seven’s direction. “I’ll find a way to get his attention. The video will prove River’s innocence and show us who’s really responsible. Once the victim recovers, we can ask him to fill in the details. Meanwhile, you can use your luck to smooth things over.”
She closes her eyes as if she’s truly relieved that I’ve agreed to help. “Thank you, Sophia. After everything we went through to manage what happened with our father, this is just exhausting. At least in that case, Godmother was able to conceal his crimes. No one outside the family knows exactly what he did, especially not the humans. This… It’s too late. People saw. We can’t hide it.”
I lean in and give her a quick hug. “So we’ll roll with it. I have faith in you. It’s going to be okay.”
Her green eyes lift to meet mine, shiny as if she’s trying not to cry, and she tucks her deep red hair behind her ears. “You’re a good friend.”
She kisses both my cheeks and then strides away from me, looking exquisite in an indigo dress with ruby pumps. Only a leprechaun could be as stressed as Evangeline is right now and still look as fresh as if she’d just walked out of the salon.
As soon as the security team breaks and the rope is lowered, I head straight for Seven, who’s now in a heated conversation with Godmother. When he sees me, his lips press into a straight line and his eyes crease at the corners. He isn’t happy, but he seems resolved about something. Godmother, on the other hand, is vibrating with cool assurance, as if she is entirely in control of her every thought and emotion and knows exactly what needs to be done to address this disaster.
“Sophia Larkspur, unless you’ve come to offer some additional insight into what happened here today, I’m going to ask you to move along.” She lifts her chin, her gaze sliding down her nose at me from her superior height.
“Just that I’m sure River didn’t do this,” I say nervously. I don’t like the way Godmother is looking at me. “I came to ask Seven to check the security footage.”
“Oh, you’re sure, are you?” She taps her fingers in front of her. “Are you certain you want that to be the case? You know, if River isn’t responsible for that guest’s death, the most likely suspect is the person who committed the last two murders. Since that person is supposed to be in Ashgate, I must question whether we imprisoned the right man. Should I remind you what happens if he is not?”
“Excuse me? I’m not sure I know what you’re getting it. You caught Chance red-handed.”
“Imprisoning pixies, yes, but there was no hard evidence linking him back to the murders. Those were technically committed by Yissevel, and as that creature is dead, he could not be questioned. Needless to say, if you were wrong, and there was someone else involved, our previous bargain was dissolved on the basis of false assumptions. If it turns out that what happened today is in any way related to the first two murders, you will be beholden to me to find the murderer.”
I look between them both. “Murderer? But you said he was merely injured and being taken to Elderflame Hospital. Isn’t there a chance he’ll recover?”
Seven frowns. “That was for publicity reasons. The man is dead.”
I gasp. “What about River? What did he say when you asked him what happened?”
“He denied shooting the man, of course,” Godmother said. “Claimed he found the human on the walkway bleeding when he came upon him, but without any witnesses, I’m afraid anyone might claim such a thing.”
I hug myself against a sudden chill. So the ambulance was just for show. I glare at Godmother. “There’s no way River did this, and you know it. He’s not capable of it.”
“And if you find proof of such a thing, I’d be happy to examine your evidence, Sophia. Until then, I’ll be holding River until we know for sure it’s safe to release him.”
“But—”
Seven steps between us, cutting me off. “There’s a simple way to settle this. I’ll go pull the security footage.”
Godmother rests a hand on her corset and purses her lips. “You do that, Seven. But until we prove otherwise, as far as I’m concerned, River is our perpetrator.”
ChapterSix
“It should be right here.” Seven rubs his temple, looking as frustrated as I feel.
We’re in the Wonderland Security office, staring at the recording of the spot in front of River’s Tavern where the shooting happened. Seven scans backward second by second. Several minutes are missing. At two p.m., all we see is the brick walkway in front of River’s, but then the video skips forward to 2:15 p.m. and River appears in the space, hunched over the dead man.
“Someone’s tampered with the video,” I say breathlessly, pressing a fist to my forehead. “Again! How is this possible?”
“It shouldn’t be.” He grits his teeth. “Our system keeps track of everyone who accesses these recordings. Very few employees have the clearance to delete video.” He navigates to a command prompt and types a few lines of code. The system returns a string of characters around a single name we both recognize.
I brace myself on the desk, my heart pounding with the implications. “Chance Delaney? How?”
Seven scowls. “This says the change was made from the IP address of Chance’s desktop computer.”
“How? He’s in Ashgate Prison.” No one has ever escaped from Ashgate. Then again, has any prisoner ever been as powerful as Chance? My stomach aches at even the thought that he might be free again.
