"She’s fine," Moretti interrupts. "For now."
"Put her on the line," Konstantin commands.
"She’s indisposed at the moment," Moretti says, smiling at me. "She’s recovering from the shock. She was eager to tell us about the tablet, Konstantin. She screamed about it to save her skin. Your little pet isn’t as loyal as you thought."
I flinch. He’s using my fear to humiliate me.
"If she bleeds, Moretti," Konstantin says, voice cracking with rage, "There’s no hole deep enough for you to hide in. I’ll burn the world to find you."
"Then bring the tablet," Moretti challenges. "The tablet for her. The Old Foundry. Midnight. Come alone. If I see a sniper, if I smell a trap... I’ll finish what I started, and I’ll mail her to you, piece by piece."
The line goes dead.
Moretti slides the phone into his pocket. He looks at me with indifference.
"Rest, Mrs. Morozov," he says. "We move at midnight."
He walks out, the heavy steel door clanging shut behind him. Locked.
I slump in the chair, dizzy. My head falls forward.
I look at my right hand. My thumb is still there.
But I feel sick.
I told myself I was his partner. His equal. But the moment the knife touched my skin, I broke. I panicked. And I exposed the secret.
I handed them his death warrant. I told Moretti that the only thing standing between him and the weapons is Konstantin himself. That shipment was his retribution. The only justice his family would ever get. And I sold it to the men who killed them.
I wasn't a Queen. I was the weak link. I told Moretti exactly how to destroy my King to save my own skin.
"You see?" Arthur's voice breaks the silence.
I don't look up.
"It worked out, Helena," he says with relief, hovering near me. "You did the right thing. Konstantin... he's resourceful. He'll figure it out. But we're alive."
Something inside me snaps. I slowly lift my head.
Arthur is smiling. He actually thinks we won.
"Don't speak to me," I hiss, seething.
"Helena, I know it was?—"
"I said don't speak!" I scream. "You didn't save me. You watched. You stood there and watched him draw a line on my skin!"
Arthur flinches. "I had to. If I interfered, he would have killed us both."
"Konstantin wouldn't have watched," I say, the realization hitting me.
Tears prick my eyes.
"If the roles were reversed," I whisper, "if he were the one standing where you are... Konstantin would have burned the city down to stop it. He would have caught the blade in his own bare hand before he let it touch me."
Arthur opens his mouth, then closes it. He looks at the floor.
I lean my head back, staring at the ceiling.
