"You didn't tell her?" Nikolai snaps.
"Icouldn't," I snap back.
"Could've fucking hinted at it," Nikolai sneers. "Could've atleast?—"
Geo holds up a hand to stop him. "She was way too resistant to getting checked by the medics," he says, almost as if he's talking to himself. "Maybe she's instinctively protecting herself, even if she doesn't consciously know about the implant."
"Surhiira's medical technology is far more advanced than anything in Reinmich," Raven says, hope threading through his words. "Maybe they can do something here that you couldn't."
"I'm not taking that risk," I say firmly.
"And she's not going back to Reinmich," Geo snarls. "Seems like we're at an impasse here."
The threat is clear, and despite everything, I respect him for it. Even if I also want to kill him. They're not backing down.
Not when it comes to her.
"We're already in Surhiira," Raven insists. "Even if they can't remove the chip, we should at least have her examined. See what's actually happening. For all we know, Maybrecht was bluffing about the whole thing." He pauses, then adds more quietly, "And Cosima deserves to know what was done to her."
"It could trigger her," I argue. "Between the drugs and the implant, she's already fragile, as I'm sure you've noticed. Her mind could break irrevocably."
"'Fragile' isn't exactly the word I'd use," Geo says flatly, but he doesn't argue my point. "She's made of tough stuff. Tougher than you realize, I think. The world threw itself at her and she met it head on."
"Maybe," I concede quietly.
She is certainly different from the Cosima I used to know. It feels like a lifetime ago. The new Cosima is more like a queen, and these are her knights. One more literally than the others, apparently. Though they carry switchblades and curved metal claws, not swords.
Nikolai's voice drops to a dangerous tone. "Considering you're the one who pushed her over the edge last time with your bullshit revelations, you don't get to make the call on how we handle this."
My teeth ache with the effort of not tearing into his throat. But he's right. Iknowhe's right. Still, the thought of Cosima learning the truth, of watching her drift away from me for the hundredth time knowing this time might be the last…
"Fine," the word grinds out between my teeth. "We'll have her examined while we're here. But I don't have much time before I need to report back to Maybrecht."
"We get Cosima checked first," Geo says with finality. "Find out what the doctors think is safe to tell her."
"Not just any doctors," Raven interjects. "We'll need specialists. The best Surhiira has to offer."
"The question is," Nikolai adds, "can we trust your prick of a brother with any of this?"
I turn my gaze to the corner, to where shadows conceal the surveillance equipment I know is there. The palace is riddled with them, my father's paranoia made manifest in architecture. Plague inherited that particular trait from him. I stare directly into the hidden lens, knowing my brother is watching.
He always is.
"He already knows." My voice carries clearly through the room. "Don't you, brother?"
The silence stretches for a heartbeat, two, before Geo's growl fills the void.
"Son of a bitch, Ihatethis fucking place. The sooner we get out of here, the better."
"Finally," I say flatly, my lips curving into an exhausted grin, "we can agree on something."
Chapter 39
RAVEN
The door openswith the kind of theatrical slowness that makes me want to throw my knife just to see if I can pin Plague's pretentious scarf to the equally pretentious fucking wall. But instead of diving for cover or at least having the decency to look concerned, the prince just strolls in like he owns the place.
Which, technically, he does.
