I covered his hand with mine, keeping the stone pressed between us. “This will work both ways when you’re touching it too. So tell me, how did you get this to work? I had to work overtime for three months because your father was upset at my failure. I’m not surprised he’s a liar. But how?”
His jaw flexed. The stone flickered between us. He pressed on. “Did you care about her?”
“Yes.” Green. “Your turn.”
“I don’t have to?—”
“But you want to know more, don’t you? So answer, or we’re done.”
For a moment, neither of us moved. Then, quieter: “Maybe it recognizes something in me that shouldn’t be there. It may surprise you to knowIdon’t know everything.”
The stone pulsed green. He was telling the truth, which was somehow worse than if he’d been lying.
“Do you still care about her?” he asked.
“I care about who I knew her to be.” The stone’s glow reflected in his eyes. “That person might never have actually existed, though.”
“At the Gilded Pestle you said it looked like a frame job, now you’re doubting your friendship with the Phoenix. Which is it?”
I sighed. “It’s both, hunter. We know she’s the Phoenix. We know she tried to kill the Oracle. But the crime scene was too clean. I can’t just ignore that. Even when she’s been lying to me for three years. I’m not her friend, but I’m going to find the truth instead of blindly following.”
Something shifted in his expression. The pressure of the stone eased, but he didn’t step back. Instead, he whispered, “I’m sorry. About the Mistress of Blades. I can see she mattered to you.”
The unexpected kindness hit harder than any threat would have. I couldn’t stand this close, couldn’t look into those stormy gray eyes and see any kind of empathy. Forcing myself to remember the way he looked at me when everyone was watching, I slipped sideways, breaking away from the cage of his body and the shelves, leaving him to stand there.
“Satisfied?” Mrs. Deliana called from her perch moments later.
Wickett’s eyes found mine, the truth stone disappearing back into his pocket. “No.” That answer had nothing to do withsearching for evidence, though I was probably the only one who noticed as he shifted back to his detached manner. “The stairs to get to the apartments?”
“Through there,” the bookstore owner said, pointing at a narrow hall.
The stairs loomed ahead, steep as a gallow’s climb. When they saw me in Vitoria’s room, I’d let them believe it was revenge driving me. Because waiting for a private moment to search wasn’t an option. Not with her name already poisoned on every tongue.
So I took the first step, knowing the next one could ruin everything.
Chapter 20
Syneca
If you hear your name whispered in the forest, answer not; the trees only call out when they are hungry.
Our apartment looked exactly as we’d left it—controlled chaos that only made sense to us.
My eyes went immediately to the chessboard on the side table.
The pieces had been moved. She’d been here. The white queen was in the corner instead of the center. The black knight faced the window instead of the door. And the rook... the rook she had placed in the far corner, in the position we agreed meant only one thing: goodbye.
My knees nearly buckled. She was alive. Gone—but alive.
And probably fucking terrified and feeling so betrayed.
“Interesting game,” Lucette said, suddenly beside me.
I forced my voice to be steady. “Vitoria liked chess. Could never finish a match, though.”
“Hmm.” She studied the board with those dark green, knowing eyes. “Funny how the queen has protected herselfby hiding. She would be more powerful if she were more aggressive.”
“Says the competitor,” I answered, sharing a smile with her as I took control of the conversation. “I heard you’re about as good at Nexus as your brother was. Some even say better. Why didn’t you play more professionally?”
