“Because we wanted to warn you guys.”
I looked at him, furrowing my brows. Warn us?
“There is an infiltrator among you,” Lionel continued, glancing over the mages. “A demon, hiding among everyone.”
I swallowed, stiffening in place as I slowly glanced towards the side. Malakai looked awfully casual, his hands slipping into his pockets, not a hint of fear of being exposed.
“The mages didn’t seem to be aware of the demon lurking within their ranks.”
The mages? Right, I remembered Malakai saying the same to Michlael before, about another demon hiding in their village… So Lionel hadn’t figured out Malakai’s secret? But Eve had aimed for him, practically shouted it out, without uttering the word.
“Who?”
Lionel pressed his lips together, his eyes searching the grounds. “It’s not here.”
A wave of relief went through my body.
“Why blow up the place, why put everyone at risk instead of telling us about it?” Michlael shot back, not satisfied with the answer.
“We didn’t aim to hurt anyone, and… Ethalyn can control the flames…” Lionel bit his lower lip. “We figured that if we caused a big enough commotion, all citizens would be forced to be on guard and hopefully either send mages out together with the traitor, or catch him in his scheming.”
Michlael was right, why hadn’t Lionel told us? Why bomb the place and risk all those lives, all the mages that could help us?
“That demon was living casually amongst you, no one would’ve believed us if we tried to tell you.”
I turned still, quiet. The demon had mixed in with them for a while then? I glanced over at Michlael, but he shook his head in response, his eyes sharpening as if insulted by the mere glance.
“Who?” I asked again, looking back at Lionel.
“It’s—”
Another explosion went off, and the earth shook.
“That wasn’t ours,” Lionel bit out, his entire body tensed.
“Then you haven’t convinced them of your purpose here?” Malakai blurted, stalking closer. But Lionel merely glared at him.
“We haven’t teamed up with the Ashen Corps, we simply blended in, trying to persuade them into talking,” Lionel answered. “But we hold no rank.”
“Why help us?” Michlael asked, voice raised. “You’reungifted.”
“Because,” Lionel began, eyes landing on me. “I trusther.”
Something swirled inside of me, sharp and relentless, catching my breath. It felt as if something was stuck inside of me, I couldn’t breathe and I was frozen in place.
He had planted the bomb to get everyone out of the village, to create a distraction, distract the infiltrator… but most importantly, he hadn’t betrayed me.
That had been my assumption, and guilt washed over me. I had been quick to bare my teeth against him, not even giving him the benefit of the doubt.
“Do you trust him?” Michlael glanced over at me. “Since you saved my life, I’ll repay you by letting you decide his fate.”
“I…” I stammered, looking back at Lionel. “I believe him.”
“Let’s go then, we have to finish what we started,”
Michlael said through his teeth, not happy about leaving Lionel and Eve alive, but he urged his mages to continue walking towards the fields.
“I’m not forgivingher,” Ashley said coldly, turning away from them and stepping over to Nate, helping him scoop up Mey.
