Chapter 28 · The Order Beneath the Throne

"Why are you telling me not to trust you?" I shoved the blood-map fragment against Cedric's chest. "What did Mara see?"

The stone under my boots gave a hard, ugly crack.

Cedric caught my wrist before the red light could climb my arm again. His fingers closed around me, hot despite the blood running from the cut beneath his ribs.

"Not here. Move."

"You don't get to say that after hiding her from me."

"I didn't hide her. I kept you alive long enough to find her trail."

"You kept me ignorant. There's a difference."

The recording behind us hissed. Mara's voice broke through the chamber, rough and breathless.

"Evelyn, if you're hearing this, don't let Cedric take you to the archive. He'll use the order against you. He always—"

The message snapped off.

I looked at Cedric. "She knew you. She feared you. Pick one lie and make it convincing."

His jaw tightened. "Mara was trying to keep Lucian from finding you. She didn't know who had already betrayed her."

"And you do?"

"I know enough to get you out before the hunters reach this room."

A deep boom rolled through the fortress.