“I didn't do anything,” Zayne said.
“Oh, I'm sure you didn't.”
Mellie continued to bicker with him while Kira sank lower into the chair, trying to disappear from the woman who didn't know that she wasn't her fiancé's cousin.
CHAPTER 35
Miya
The Territories
Caspador
833 P.C. [Post-Collapse]
Black soil and strips of withered grass blurred out of the window of the truck. The further south they traveled, the darker the earth became, and the more at home Miya felt, for better or worse. Here they were, driving closer to the ground zero of a past she had spent her life running from. The captain wanted her and Lance to build a bridge to Bale and the True Followers to kill the king of Caspador. And it might ruin her.
The truck backfired, and the smell of exhaust made her cough. She covered her mouth with her sleeve. A miracle this old junker hadn’t caught fire. Bale’s people never had much, but her father had done everything within his power, despite the council and their treaty, to strip the villages of what they did have. She shared as much blame as anyone else. Her father punished Bale for her mother’s death, and losing Miya only worsened the lust for revenge, even if that part wasn’t Bale’s fault.
Now that the Phaedra used them to force regime change without implicating himself, the innocent people in the villages would suffer the most. There was nopeaceful resolution to regicide. Miya wasn't sure how to protect them, because after all her planning, she realized the United was her only recourse. Now that she knew the Rivens were involved and would step in if the captain failed, her options were even more limited than before. If the United intervened, they'd arrest Bale and wouldn't stick around to help his people recover. Her father would leave them to die, too. They'd have no one.
She considered sending everything she knew to the United now, but her word meant nothing to them, especially once they realized who she worked for. However, if she warned them about what Bale and Rafferty planned to do for the Phaedra, then the United could catch them meeting.
Was it wrong that she didn't tell them who she was? They'd believe her if they knew King Moress was her father.
Miya couldn't return home, though, and he'd never stop searching for her if he knew she was alive.
Her boss would meet with Bale very soon. There was no need for her to expose herself or Zayne to verify her intel.
Though Miya hadn't met Zayne's friend, Ashantae, yet, she did wake up one morning to a note tucked into her makeup bag with a number to call for emergencies, as well as coordinates to a secure drop box. After returning from the True Followers' villa, she planned to deliver a letter with everything she knew and the details of the meeting between her boss and Bale. Zayne's friend would take care of the rest.
And after the United arrested the perpetrators, Miya could disappear. They'd protect the king and the rest of the family. Her work would be done.
Well, once she destroyed the captain. That would be her parting gift on her way out.
It did comfort her that she'd get justice for the people the boss and Aiden hurt. Not only did they plan to kill the king, but they also helped Miya infiltrate the United base to make contact with Becka Rogers. Rafferty had incredible connections given the nature of their work and the lengths people went to in order to protect their secrets. But her boss never crossed the United or the Phaedra. That was their most basic rule.
At least until the captain forced them into the war.
If Miya didn't get the boss arrested, he might kill her when this was through for promising to help the captain. But none of them had a choice. It was serve the Phaedra or die.
Or risk everything to fight.
Rafferty was doomed. The boss already used his connections to sneak Miya into the cleaning crew at the base, and she passed along an inhaler to Becka with a microphone hidden inside. The woman took Zayne's message seriously. Promised not to give up any information. She'd begged Miya to make sure her daughter made it home safely.
It seemed like Zayne had that covered. But Miya doubted the Phaedra was willing to wait long for Becka's information. He must have been furious that she didn't speak up already.
There was too much danger. Too many factors at play.
She wanted out as soon as her family and kingdom were safe.
Lance spoke for the first time in an hour. “I don’t understand why your boss would want to make a deal with my people.”
He wasn’t meant to understand. “Didn’t I tell you to leave me alone?”
Lance sighed. “I remember your language being a little more colorful, but yeah… Something like that.”
It wasn't fair to take this out on Lance, but she didn't know how else to tell him to run away from her as fast as possible.
