“I wouldn’t helpyou unless I had a death wish,” I ground out.Syndicate rebellion against the Astrals.“You’re the apostai.”
The man straightened slightly. “You have a death wish if you don’t.”
Chosens were only able to channel their power through talismans. They were rare and sacred stones imbued with the Zodiac’s magic upon the creation of Gaianos.
And these fools talked as though I could simply snatch one from a royal without repercussions.
“We are an interconnected network of individuals working toward an everlasting, more just, and equal future for all,” he explained, as if that answered all my questions. “One that doesn’t include the Astrals’ archaic limitations.”
“I think you have the wrong woman here.” I glanced back at the door. My odds of escape were limited against a man of his stature. Unless I used the crowd to my advantage?—
He rose swiftly to step in front of me. “If you think we’re letting you walk out of this room without securing your allegiance to this mission, you are poorly mistaken.”
“To the mission or to you?”
The matron remained unbothered from her relaxed position. “You’ve been made aware of the cause we support. The answer to your question is one and the same.”
“And if I help you, that makes me an apostate,” I said with narrowed eyes. “While I’m not the king’s biggest supporter, I have no intention of getting myself killed for your cause because you don’t agree with the laws of our?—”
“You know nothing,” the man barked. “About anything, least of all our cause.”
“I know you’ve destroyed places filled with innocent people, and you enjoy wreaking havoc on society for the sake of conflict.”
The man sighed as he rubbed at his eyes. “We’ve finally convinced him to be in this room without a guardian. This might be our only chance. Please don’t tell me we’re wasting it on the wrong woman.”
“I assure you, you are,” I said.
The matron shifted her legs beneath her gown so that she angled herself to the man. “She fits the criteria, exactly as we have been foretold.”
“So did Yarah.”
“And Yarah is no more.”
“Listen to her,” he insisted. “She believes the lies the realm has spread about us. How is she the one we were promised?”
“I don’t care about any of it,” I snapped, interrupting them. “I just want to live my life.”
“And you can,” the matron said to me. “Once you complete this small task for us.”
“What do you mean, the one you were promised? Promised by who? Kole? Because it’s not his fault I’m not the dancer or seductress you were expecting. I already said I’ve never trained with anyone before.”
The man jerked his head once at the matron, then walked briskly past me as though this weren’t a matter of life and death. “A fool indeed.”
I gaped. “I don’t know much, but I do know that for anyone to even attempt to touch a royal’s talisman is treason. But to try to steal it? King Zephyr will suffocate me with his magic the moment he realizes what is happening!”
“We have a plan to ensure that won’t be the case,” said the matron.
“Let’s say whatever plan you have works and I take the stone from him. What could you possibly hope to do with it? You can’t use its power.”
“That part is inconsequential to you. All you need to know is that here, with you, the king will be truly alone,” the matron said. “A trusted partnership has been established. His guardians will remain on the other side of that door.”
“And let me guess. When you finally asked Yarah what you intended her to do, she said no and conveniently becameindisposed. Did you kill her?”
The matron smoothed her milky hair behind her ears. “We do what we must out of loyalty to a cause far greater than either one of us.”
From the cold finality in her tone, I assumed something terrible had indeed befallen Yarah. I shuddered with remorse. “And when he recognizes that I’m not Yarah?”
“We’ve studied the king’s tastes and believe—based on your little show for him just now—that won’t matter.”
