When I don’t say anything, Vera says, “You thought I found out about you lying. Lying about what? I thought to myself all night. There’s only one thing you could be lying about.”
“Vera…”
“You never broke it off with Daegel, did you? All this time, when you would sneak off somewhere by yourself and disappear for hours, you were with him.”
Everything is unraveling. Crumbling to pieces.
Sooner or later, it had to happen, I guess.
The truth always comes out, whether we want it or not.
“I was trying to get him to drop out. To stop being his father’s puppet,” I say, my voice weak.
Vera barks a laugh. It’s humorless. An unpleasant shiver goes down my spine.
“And how did that work out for you?”
I swallow. Lick my dry lips. “We’re not together anymore. I may have not broken up with him when you told me to break up with him, but we’re done now.”
From the fire in her eyes I can tell she doesn’t believe me. Of course she doesn’t. Why would she? After all the lies and deception.
I sigh. “Vera, please. Jax was right about one thing—the Talbots want us distracted. They want us divided so they can come in and conquer with ease.”
Vera ignores me. “I didn’t ask you to break up with your boyfriend because I wanted you to be miserable, Phoenix. You put everything at risk sneaking around with him. And I’m nottalking about your life. It was easy as ever for him to spy on us, on me, while taking you to bed.”
Offended, I snap, “He didn’t use me to spy on you! We never spoke of you, nor did he ever ask any questions. And the fact that you think I’d answer those questions even if he were to ask is beyond me. Do you really think so little of me?”
Vera shakes her head. “It’s not you I worry about. It’s your heart. When minds are clouded by love, even the most cunning of us become reckless. He didn’t have to ask direct questions. He could find out information from a sentence you would consider harmless. He’s a Caligos, born and raised. They’re trained in manipulation the moment they leave the mother’s womb.”
I flinch as if her words had struck me.
I’ve been careful—how can she not understand that? I never once revealed anything. All we did was argue, back and forth, about the same thin?—
A memory surges to the front of my mind. I asked him about the assassination of the General and if he knew it was Caligos.
I also asked him if he knows about child trafficking.
Oh, no. No, no, no.
It’s all my fault.
As if Vera can read my mind, she says, “You did tell him something, didn’t you?”
I shake my head. “I didn’t tell him, but I asked him a question.”
“What question?”
“If he knows about his family’s dealing in people trafficking.”
Vera’s face falls. She’s still as a statue, in that unnerving fae way.
“Vera, I’m sor?—”
“Get out.” Her voice is as cold as her steely gaze as she cuts me off. “Get the fuck out.”
“Vera, please. I can?—”
“You’ve done enough,” she says, unwavering. “You have revealed the secret to the enemy that puts everything I worked on for years at risk. They know who Savage King is.” She shakes her head. “Now it makes sense why the Caligos at the warehouse took me the moment they saw me hiding.”
