Page 120 of Unmasked

“And that’s a mistake.” I looked between them all again, turning back to the Reeve. “King Lawrence is having our entrances tested. He’s figuring out where they are, and how long it takes us to interject. Un… acceptable.”

I turned back to the guard. “Someone is feeding the king information. He knows what we do. He knows about the rituals. About the auctions. He knows about our cells, and I’m guessing he’s trying like hell to learn which Masters are coming here. Two weeks, and he can already invade our home if he chooses to. Two weeks…”

My head shook.

“You will watch every Master you see. You will report any suspicious activity. They may pay to fill this space, but they will die if they betray it. Do you hear me?”

“Yes, Intended.”

The words echoed from stone.

“That goes for any of you who might be doing the same. What happens at The Order⁠—”

“Stays at The Order.”

I nodded at their booming response, hearing Vaughn’s words in my head. Feeling as though his words were leading me.

“I am only your Intended right now, but in a few days, sooner, if I have my way, I hope to be more. Maybe I’ll pass the trials. Maybe I won’t. But I will do my best for all of you.” My lips pursed as I took them in. “We are in this together, and we have the enemy breathing down our back. We must stay vigilant. We must do what is right for all of us.” I glanced at Vaughn. “Because if we don’t, The Unavowed doesn’t just fall. I don’t just fall. We all fall together.”

I lowered my head, taking a deep breath. When I brought it up, the guards were waiting.

“I will do what I must to keep King Lawrence distracted. I will draw his attention away from The Order. But I cannot do this alone. We must take action and be prepared. The next time we have an alarm go off, we’ll be ready. We won’t bring him in. That may be what he wants. Instead, we follow and get him in his space. We end his life before he tries to end ours.”

A roar went up, and I lifted my hand.

“And we wait, because there will be more. And every time they think to test us, we show them their mistake. We don’t stop. We’ll never stop.” I paused. “As for the Masters, we must be certain. You will go to your Reeve to report anything suspicious. From there, The Unavowed and I will look into it. We will get to the bottom of this. We can’t afford not to.”

I turned, meeting Vaughn’s gaze. He stood, slowly walking in my direction. When he got even with me, his gaze cut up to the guards.

“Your Intended’s worry is warrented. We will do as she says. You’re dismissed.”

I turned, watching the guard file out. The Reeve headed over, keeping his eyes averted as he stopped before us.

“I will pull up footage and compare the instances to see if it’s the same person we’re dealing with.”

“Good idea.” I closed my lids, hearing King Lawrence’s voice echo through. “He mentioned he was talking to someone named George. I heard a part of their conversation when I was in the library. He didn’t know I was there at first, but I heard him. I believe he might have been talking to the person testing our entrances. Let’s see if we can identify him on film and in person.”

“I’ll see what I can find.”

“Don’t see, find him.” Vaughn ground out.

“Yes, Unavowed.”

“Go.”

The Reeve nodded, heading for the door, leaving Vaughn and I in the large space by ourselves. I didn’t speak, and at first, neither did he.

“I’m not saying I have…” he paused, “but I might have possibly made a mistake.”

“You did.”

His gaze rose to meet mine. His face was still hard, but he rolled his eyes, his stare coming back to me.

“And perhaps I was acting⁠—”

“Like a brat? Like anything but a king?”

Vaughn’s lips slightly pulled back on one side. “This is why we’re going to work. Because you won’t hold back. You won’t let me get away with it.”