Ghost’s response is to climb onto her shoulder and drape himself there like a living scarf, still purring like a small engine.
“He really loves you,” I say.
“Animals are better than people,” Mara says, kissing Ghost’s head.
“I would take offense if I didn’t agree.”
Mara giggles and allows Ghost to continue his ecstatic reunion as I move to gather the cat’s supplies—food and bowls from the kitchen, litter box and litter from the bathroom, toys scattered throughout the living room.
“His carrier’s in Dredyn’s room... In the closet, I think!” Mara calls.
I nod and head down the hallway.
I pull the closet open, scanning the upper shelf where a cat carrier sits beside a stack of boxes. I reach up, fingers closing around the carrier’s handle, when my elbow catches one of the boxes.
The box tips and falls. My hand shoots out to catch it, but misses. The box hits the floor and its contents spill across the hardwood.
An envelope hits the ground, and a small velvet box rolls until it hits my foot.
I freeze.
Something tells me not to touch it. Something tells me to walk away, to pretend I never saw it. But my hand is already reaching down, already picking up the velvet box with fingers that have gone numb.
Inside, nestled against black silk, is a ring—heavy gold, engraved with the dagger that’s coated in blood. The symbol I’ve seen my entire life.
My heart hammers against my ribs.
There’s a letter too, folded beneath where the box had been. My hands move without conscious thought, unfolding the paper.
Dredyn,
Your loyalty has not gone unnoticed. Your seat at the table is secured for the spring gathering. TheSyndicate takes care of its own, as you well know. Your father’s legacy continues through you.
We expect great things.
The signature at the bottom is illegible, but the seal pressed into the wax is unmistakable.
How long has Dredyn known?
The thought settles over me like ice water. He’s known his father killed Evangeline for years—maybe from the beginning. And he never said a fucking word.
Why?
“Jasper? You okay in there?”
Mara’s voice snaps me back to the present. My hands are shaking. I stare down at the ring, at the letter, at the evidence of betrayal that I’m holding.
I should show her; I should call Talon. We should lock Dredyn down, interrogate him, and find out what the hell he’s been playing at.
But something stops me.
If Dredyn’s been working an angle, if he’s been undercover or playing a long game, confronting him now could blow everything—could put Mara in danger. Could cost us the only chance we’ll ever have to take down the Syndicate from the inside.
Or maybe I’m making excuses. Maybe I just don’t want to see the look on Mara’s face when she realizes that someone else she trusted has been lying to her all along.
My jaw clenches as I close the ring box and fold the letter along its creases, tucking both into my jacket pocket.
The box goes back on the shelf, and the papers get scooped up and shoved back into the cardboard container. Everything is back in its place, like I was never here.
