She hesitates, exchanging a glance with Lark while he continues to frown at me from her side. “I can wait for you.”
I shake my head before she even finishes speaking. “I’m not sure how long this will take, but I’ll be fine on my own.”
After further encouragement, the two of them finally leave. My eyes dart around the hall, searching every nook and shadow. When I’m satisfied there’s no one else around, I crouch down by the door and lean in close to the keyhole.
“You retrieved the documents?” the Eagle asks.
“Yes.” Raven pauses, the sound of rustling paper filling the silence. “The full procedure is outlined here. Based on what we learned from the last assignment, the power transference is relatively simple. The complications arise if the vessel isn’t strong enough.”
Their conversation scratches the surface of a memory in the back of my mind. Frowning, I lean in closer.
“I’m not concerned about that,” Lord Malis snaps. I hear him take adeep breath and exhale, reining his temper in. “We have everything we need to complete it?”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Excellent.” A pause. “How is our guest?”
“Certainly not grateful, but he’s been inside a cell for well over a year now. It’s not much different to where he was already.” Raven’s voice is steady, but there’s a hesitation in his words that I can’t ignore. Is it guilt? Doubt? Or something else entirely? For a moment, I wonder if he’s as loyal to the Eagle as he seems—or if he’s playing a role, just as I have been. “He was wearing a muzzle when we took him, but on our journey, it was removed.”
My heart plummets at his words. I was foolish to believe that Raven wouldn’t notice the muzzle. Then again, I hadn’t been thinking at all; I’d simply acted.
The clink of glass precedes the sound of liquid being poured.
“You think one of your Flight removed it?” Lord Malis’s voice is lethally soft.
“That remains to be seen. If they did, it was probably to give him food or water so he didn’t die on the way, but I can investigate it.”
“Don’t bother. He’ll be dead before long. No being can survive without theirtheïkós.Not evenhim.”
“Of course.”
A pause. “And what of Aella?”
My breath catches in my throat, my heart pounding so loudly I’m certain they’ll hear it.
“She’s…unaware,” Raven says, his voice quieter now, almost hesitant. “She suspects nothing.”
The world tilts beneath me, and I press a hand to the floor to steady myself.
“Good,” the Eagle says, his tone cold and calculating. “Continue to observe her. Report back to me if there are any changes. I want to know the moment she becomes a liability.”
The words hit me like a physical blow, knocking the air from my lungs. My vision blurs, and for a moment, I can’t think, can’t breathe.
Raven.
The man I trusted—the one who fought by my side, who taught me so much of what I know—has been watching me. Spying on me. Reporting back tohim.
I bite down hard on the inside of my cheek, the sharp pain grounding me as Malis continues.
“Leave the documents here. I’ll take them to the Owls in the morning. Dismissed.”
“As you command, Eagle.”
I scramble back from the door, retreating into the shadows of an alcove just as it creaks open. Raven steps into the hall, his expression unreadable, his movements calm and measured. He doesn’t look around, doesn’t hesitate as he walks away, his boots clicking against the floorboards.
I press myself deeper into the shadows, my heart hammering in my chest. My mind races, a thousand thoughts colliding all at once.
How long? How long has he been spying on me? Was it from the very beginning? Every word, every action, every moment we shared—was it all a lie?
