“The-week-before-you-arrived-in-the-castillo new.”
“That’s why she’s locked away.”
“She’s locked up because her brother knows he can’t control her.”
The mystery surrounding Atoc’s sister confounds me. It’s clear she knows more about her brother than either of us. I need to speak with her again, if only to learn why she tried to steal the Estrella from Atoc in the first place. Maybe there’s a pattern, a clue, something. It’s clear she’s working with El Lobo, and I need to somehow earnbothof their trusts.
The fate of my people is in my hands and I won’t leave it to chance. I have to find out his identity. But the thought flusters me. How can I betray someone who’s shown again and again that their intentions are to help everyone in Inkasisa, Illustrians and Llacsans alike?
What kind of person am I to even consider it?
An impossible coil. But I have no choice, not when there are so many lives at stake. El Lobo is staring at me, waiting for my next move.
“We have to work together,” I say. “Let me help you rid the throne of Atoc.”
“Forget it, Condesa.”
I flinch at his tone. “He killed my parents. Even if that were all, it’d be enough. But it’s more than that. He promised to look after his people, and he hasn’t. I’ve had to sit and watch him make deal after deal, weakening our economy, destroying our fields, and raising taxes so high that no one can afford them. People have to pay forwater.A commodity that should be free for everyone. I’m alone in the castillo with just my wits, trying to stop this madman from destroying Inkasisa. I’m desperate, Lobo. That’s why I let you take off my mask. If you’re going to laugh at me again, to hell with you and your cheap tricks against the king. Let’s see how far that will get you.”
I break off, breathing hard. I’ve never said anything truer. If he doesn’t believe me now, he never will.
El Lobo remains silent. Watching. Assessing.
Damn it. What am I going to tell Sajra now? I can’t make something up. The castillo is full of his spies. He’ll know if I’m lying.
I pick up my mask and walk toward the door. My hand slides into my pocket to grab a bundle of moondust I can use to drug the guards outside.
“Espera.”
My heart lurches. I face El Lobo and he crosses the room. His dark eyes glitter in the faint starlight. He bends his head. His breath makes the cloth near his mouth move in and out.
“Never,” he says in a raspy voice, “turn your back on a wolf.”
I lift my chin and meet his unflinching gaze. I’m not afraid of him, whatever he might think.
“I don’t know if I can trust you,” he says.
“You’ll never know if you don’t bend a little.”
A suggestive curve appears near his cheek. He’s considering my idea, I know he is, but then he straightens away from me, shaking his head. I swallow my disappointment.
El Lobo holds out a gloved hand. “I want whatever drug you’re using.”
Rude question. But I answer anyway. “I don’t use drugs.”
“But you do,” he says, his voice quiet. “I want what’s in your pockets.”
Has he searched my room? “How did you know?”
“The guard you drugged at the side entrance of the castillo. That was you, wasn’t it?”
Oh. He’s been watchingveryclosely.
As if on cue, he leans forward until his masked face is inches from mine. “That’s right, Condesa. I know where you lay your head at night. I know what bench you prefer in the garden. I know that you like your food spicy and fried, and which hand you favor in a sword fight.”
I stiffen. His hand is still stretched toward me, waiting for the moondust. I drop the small bag into his outstretched palm. “Careful, one breath and you’ll be knocked out for hours.”
He pours a small amount into his palm as we suck in air at the same time. The moondust glitters in the candlelight, and his head jerks as if in surprise.
