Chapter 6 · The Map That Lies

"You lied to me."

I didn't just say it. I slammed Lucan against the damp brick wall of the alley, my fingers digging into the expensive, ruined fabric of his collar. My knuckles were white. My chest was heaving, and I could smell the metallic tang of the curse clinging to him—like ozone and old blood.

Lucan didn't fight back. He barely had the strength to keep his head up, but those pale eyes of his still held that annoying, arrogant shimmer. He looked at me like I was a puzzle he was just starting to enjoy solving.

"I didn't lie, Mara," he rasped. His voice sounded like crushed glass. "I gave you the intel I had. I didn't know the bastards were playing games with your brother's clothes."

"Don't give me that!" I shook him, the force of it making his head thud back against the brick. "You’re the one with the connections. You’re the one who said the Foundry was the spot. Now I’ve got a scrap of Noah’s shirt and a whole lot of nothing. Where is he?"

He let out a shallow, rattling breath.