Elias. This is his. Why am I in his shirt? Why did he take me? And why did he need Mom’s letter?
Endless questions pinball around my mind, but I shove them away. I’ll have time for that later.
Quietly, I tiptoe toward the closed door, sweat beading on my neck.
“Shit,” I mutter when the knob doesn’t give. And it’s sturdy. Unbreakable.
Ugh. Why didn’t etiquette and self-defense classes include lock-picking?
My gaze sweeps around the room again—it’s bare bones, clearly a temporary place. There’s only a bed and a lamp on a simple nightstand. Nothing I can use. I glance toward the window. I didn’t see a fire escape, but perhaps I overlooked something.
“Fuck no!” A growl reaches my ears and I flinch.
More faint sounds. Angry voices. A chair scrapes against the floor. Heavy footsteps. Conversations in a foreign language.
They’re coming from the other side of the wall.
I press my ear against it. Anything I pick up may aid my escape.
“I fulfilled my end of the bargain. You got your letter,” the familiar, raspy voice says. Elias. He has to be talking about Mom’s letter from my safe.
“…may have overestimated you…only part one.” Someone’s talking to him, but the stranger’s voice is too soft. I can’t make out his words.
“I’ll take care of them. No need to go nuclear,” Elias responds.
Them? Who? Us? Me?He must be near the wall because I hear him clearly.
“The Association won’t be pleased…the Rite…her.”
The Association?
Heavy breaths saw out of my lungs as the levers slide into position—a complicated puzzle box that’s invisible, but they’re all the same.
All puzzles have answers.
Elias is part of The Association.
My chest locks tight, my hands forming fists by my side.
The bastard. He’s been a mole all this time.
“We’ll keep her…thirty-five…”What?
A few beats of silence follow.
Then Elias’s voice again, as sharp as a blade.
“I’ll marry her. I’ll marry Lana Anderson.”
“What!” I quickly clasp my hand over my mouth.
Too late.
The door crashes open, and a hulking man fists my hair and drags me out.
Chapter 11: THE IMPOSSIBLE TASK
Agron sneers across fromme in the makeshift office. “You failed, Kent. We overestimated you. Only part one and what a fucking mess.”
