Ididn’t have to wonder whether Bones had been listening to the meeting, not for very long at least. He waylaid me before I’d even managed to get out of Malcroix Mansion, pulling me into an empty classroom and making me yelp, right before his hand clamped over my mouth.
I found myself relaxing somewhat when I saw who it was, right before I smacked him in the chest, shoving his hand off my face.
“What is thematterwith you?” I hissed quietly. “You shouldn’t be here. Don’t you realize where I just was? You might’ve been seen!”
His gold eyes glared down at mine, filled with so much fury I could only stare back. Realizing he was struggling to speak, that he was having difficulty forming actual words, I felt the blood drain from my face.
He looked pale, too pale.
His skin nearly glowed under his gold eyes.
“What?” I asked. “What’s wrong? What’s happened?”
His jaw clenched, right before he averted his eyes.
When he looked back at me, his hands gripped his hips, and he seemed to be trying to control his facial expression.
“What the fuck did you just do?” he asked roughly.
He practically bit out the words.
“Are you absolutely out of your mind?” he forced out. “Or are you really,genuinelysuicidal, and not just painfully stupid, as I’d assumed?”
I stared up at him, feeling my muscles tense.
I had to stifle the impulse to hit him again, completely knocked off-balance that he’d risked us being caught just so he could pull me into yet another dark room and insult me.
Before I could decide how to even respond, he practically bared his teeth.
“Was it reallyabsolutely necessaryfor me to spell out to you in advance why it would be a bad idea to tell a roomful of wizards and witches absolutely… fucking…everything… you’d been up to with Greythorne?”Bones demanded in a low, controlled snarl. “Do you think they will magically rescue him for you, if you cut deeply enough into your own wrists and bleed hard enough?”
At my bewildered look, Bones’s expression darkened more, turning into a near-mask.
“Why thefuckwould you do this, even if the two of you…” He trailed abruptly, as if forcing himself to stop. His gold eyes met mine, and now seemed to be glowing a shade brighter in the dark.
“They probably know about you,” he growled. “Dark Cathedral. You realize that, yes? If they didn’t know before, they’ll sure as fuck know now.”
When I didn’t answer, he stepped forward, abruptly, causing me to step back.
“They’ll know you’ve been playing footsie with them and Alaric.” He gestured furiously with a hand. “Who do you think they’ll take it out on first? You, who Forsooth’s got eyes on allthe time? Or Alec, who’s already with them? And how long do you think they’ll leaveyoualone, Leda? Or your brother? Or that cousin of yours, if they can’t get to either of you?”
I paled, staring up at him in shock.
“You’ve just told that entire group… thatentire fucking group… that you and Alec were spying on Dark Cathedral for months. For fuckingmonths.You told them you’ve researched them, transcribed their messages,spiedon their fucking members. You actuallytoldthem you saw the rooms the Priest broadcasts from. Youtoldthem that!”
He was breathing harder. As if he didn’t know how to express the emotion there, he motioned again sharply with a hand.
“You’ve deciphered their codes, recorded their fucking ‘Priest’s’ every word,conspiredagainst them, listened to their conversations,trackedhim… and now you’ve just blithely handed over all theproofof that to Forsooth?”
“I told you all of this,” I began coldly.
“The hell you did!” he snapped out. “You didn’t tell me you keptrecords,Leda! You didn’t tell me you saw the Priest’s fuckinghouse!”
“Forsooth is trustworthy,” I managed, still staring up at him.“You’veadmitted that. You said it yourself, just the other day. You said he was probably the only teacher at the school who actually lived by his ideals. That he was one of the few––”
“Fuck Forsooth!” he snarled. “He wasn’t the only one in the room, Leda! You have no idea who’s eveninthere! You don’t know these people! You have no way of knowing if you can trustanyof them! Dark Cathedral has spies. They have spies fuckingeverywhere!They likely had spies there tonight!”
He blurted it out in a disjointed, half-rushed, half-vicious rant, and I could only blink at him as I made sense of why he was so angry.
