Eddie swallowed audibly. “Last I saw him, he was headed to his quarters.”
I shoved my way past Eddie and started down the hall, fists shaking at my sides. The others followed.
I burst through the door to Alistair’s room, sending the door flying off its hinges. Alistair yelped and threw a piece of fabric at me, which barely grazed my leg.
I reached him in three strides. My bloody hands clamped around his throat as I pinned him to the floor. Pig clawed at me, but I shoved the cat aside. She and Rishi faced off, hissing at one another.
“She’s dead, you asshole!” I screamed. I couldn’t describe how furious I was. That he’d done this not only to Hemlock, but to Ava, gave me the desire to blast his soul to oblivion and back.
“Don’t touch him!” Eddie tried to yank me off Alistair, but I shoved my guard back. Eddie went floundering away, smacking his head against the wall.
“Who’s… dead?” Alistair rasped.
“Hemlock!” I sneered. “We know it was you. You’ve been the mole this whole time, funneling information back to the Warden. You killed Hemlock to keep her from talking, but we know what you did! Now it’s just a matter of deciding where you belong— in the dungeon, or on the execution block!”
“You can’t… touch me,” Alistair gasped.
My arms yanked backward against my will, and Alistair heaved a greedy breath. He ducked out from under me, and I realized he was puppeteering me, just like he’d down our professor.
“Let me go!” I screamed.
“So you can kill me?” Alistair spat. “Not a chance.”
I didn’t have free reign of my limbs, but Alistair couldn’t overpower my magic. I sent a gust of Air blasting in his direction. Alistair flew off his feet and slammed against the wall.
“You’re a fool if you think I’d betray you!” Alistair growled. “I’m one of the few people who took your side when you fought Ava!”
“Because you wanted to ruin the city!” I demanded. “I see it all so clearly now.”
“You see nothing,” Alistair spat.
I scoffed. “Guess we have that in common, don’t we?”
“Ha ha,” Alistair said dryly. “Are you really that far beyond reason?”
Before I had a chance to respond, Eddie took a timid step forward. “Alistair? You… you’re packing. You were planning to flee?”
Shit. The piece of fabric Alistair threw at me must’ve been an article of clothing. He’d rushed to put his things in a bag and scram after he’d killed Hemlock, hoping he’d escape before we found him.
I couldn’t believe I’d ever stuck up for him. He was selfish and only cared about saving his own skin.
“Not you too, Eddie.” Alistair was pretending to sound heartbroken, but his acting was so poor the truth became obvious. “I didn’t plan this. After our fight, I figured you didn’t want me around anymore, so I was going to leave the palace and find a place to stay in the city. If I were guilty of anything, I wouldn’t be running. I’d be burning this city to the ground.”
“Alistair, you can drop the act,” Marcus said flatly. “We have the evidence.”
“Damn right we do. Blood magic doesn’t lie, and my powers were strong enough to detect that you were there when Hemlock died,” Danny snarled. “All of us were together when she was stabbed, except you. I just talked to her moments before I found Charlie, then I come back and she’s bleeding to death. What does that tell us?”
“Bullshit. You can’t prove a thing,” Alistair snapped.
Eddie’s voice was tearful. “I know we took different sides when Ava and Charlie fought, but I didn’t think it’d go this far. If you didn’t kill Hemlock?—”
“Then what?” Alistair sneered cruelly. “Then I’m guilty until proven innocent? You’ve already decided that I’m the one to blame, so what’s there to prove? You all like to tell the story the way you think it should go. Charlie’s right. I did want to ruin the city, and I would’ve taken Hemlock out if I had to, because she would’ve gotten in the way. I honestly wish I would’ve thought of it first.”
“Is that a confession?” Kallie demanded. “You want revenge on your enemies so badly you’re willing to side with whoever’s in power. Since Charlie’s plan didn’t work, now you’re running to the Warden.”
“Perfect logic,” Alistair huffed sarcastically. “You’re accusing me of working with the Warden forever, but somehow I only just took his side. Make it make sense.”
“Alistair, you go along with whoever’s going to win that day, and you’re impulsive. It’s how you’ve always been,” Marcus pointed out. “That’s how we caught you.”
