“Fine.” Flicking his gaze across the dance floor, he jerked a nod. “Go for it. Ask your questions.”
I took a deep, steadying breath, realizing the last time I asked him this—demanded the answer, more accurately—he couldn’t tell me. But now, as the one who answered the Secret Questions, he could.
“From the moment she solved her last clue to the moment it happened, howexactlydid Desi die?”
Lifting my chin, I stared at him as emotions played over his features. His jaw tightened and nostrils flared like the memories had suddenly returned.
“So clever, little princess.” His anger quickened my pulse, but I stood firm. “A loophole to get all the answers, huh?”
“No, not all of them. But I need that one. I need to know everything you can tell me with the way I phrased it.” I stepped closer to him. “And I think youwantto tell me.”
Blowing out a frustrated breath, he spun on his heel and marched away from the crowd. I followed him, wary about leaving the crowd but going with my gut.
“They told me the answer. And I nudged, gently, until she solved the final clue and went to Merle. Asked him about the path she wanted to take when she went into the tunnels.” He glowered at the lake while I ran through the letters I’d solved, unsure exactly what words led to TUNNEL but aligning whathe said with what I’d discovered so far. “She was also clever. Desi, she—When he told her she was right, she took the clue he’d given her and followed the path. But it was wrong. The information I’d been given. And she wasn’t so careful with her phrasing. She hadn’t known she needed to be.”
“She asked how to find the path. Not which of the two paths was safest.”
“Not quite.”
My forehead creased in confusion, but I thought about what Paul had shared with me about the paths, and why it might have been more obvious after a girl died.
Or why it may have stood out to me, because of everything I’d been going through with Max.
“She didn’t realize there were two paths.”
“Ding. Ding. Ding!” He spat out, his voice lacking the zeal it once held. “Tell her what she’s won, ladies and gentlemen!”
I put my hand on his shoulder. “Morty, I’m sorry I have to bring all this up. But I need to win. It’s the only way to stop them for good. And I think I’ve figured out how to get into the tunnels, so I need you to keep going.”
He sharpened his gaze on my face, all false humor draining out of him. “Even if you win, there’s no stopping them. You’ll die for nothing.”
“That’s my choice to make.” I swallowed. “To me, it’s still worth it to try. For them.”
Swallowing deeply, he glared darkly into the distance. “She didn’t know she needed to ask which path was safest. So, she asked him if the path she found led to the end, and when he said yes, she didn’t use her last Secret Question.” Morty shook his head before pinning his dark gaze on mine. “And if you take the wrong path in, it triggers a failsafe mechanism. Dozmary Cavern returns to its original state. He sent her in here, knowing how it would end. Knowing she’d drown.”
“That’s what Max overheard.” My mind raced, thinking of my Knights. “What he told Landon, and Landon tried but?—”
“Landon couldn’t save her. Neither of them could’ve. It was too late.” Realizing he’d given his brother grace, he deflected. “Between you and me, they fight because of all the unbearable tension between them, and they should really just give into it.”
“Or they don’t know there was nothing they could do.”
“Your White Knight knows. He’s tried to tell Max. You heard him on the lawn.” He glanced toward the lemon tree off in the distance, and I followed his gaze, unable to make anything out. “But he’s so tortured and anguished, you know? It’s just part of his aesthetic. So, it doesn’t come out in a way my baby bro will hear it, I guess.”
The flippant wave of his hand irritated me.
“Do you have to be so cavalier?”
“Yes.”He narrowed his eyes on my face. “People act like it’s so easy. Putting pride aside. Admitting mistakes. Forgiving.”
“It can be.”
He shook his head. “Not when you’ve watched someone take everything you knew you deserved. Not when you’ve watched them fuck that up and hate you for it at the same time.”
“Morty—”
“I answered the question. That’s all I have to say about it.”
I growled, clenching my fists in frustration. “Okay, well then, if that’s the full answer, just let me ask my second, and I can get the hell away from you.”
