Page 52 of Born Free

“What’s going on?” I ask quietly.

“He’s questioning everyone,” Roman says simply. He’s holding a lot in right now. I can tell. He, too, looks like he’s thirty seconds away from exploding.

I give a nod. I hold Roman’s gaze for a second longer, silently asking the question:has anyone given us up yet?

Roman simply shakes his head.

Well, that’s a massive miracle.

Orlando turns away from Ivana, his eyes sweeping the space until they land on me. Casually, predatorily, he saunters over. “And what about you, Juliet? Do you have any information to give about the Night Council?”

I put on my best actor’s face. I will my eyes to well, though I don’t let tears fall. It isn’t hard to summon. All I have to do is let the stress surface. “You need to stop playing games, Orlando. These are real people. Real lives. You said you trust Roman, so let him do his job.”

Orlando gives a slight crook of his head, one that acknowledges that I didn’t answer his question. “But what kind of brother would I be if I just left things a mess?”

“One who displays a little confidence,” Roman says darkly.

Orlando grins as he looks over at Roman. “Oh, I have confidence, Roman,” he says the name with sarcastic drama. “But I have always loved a good conspiracy. And my source gave me one of the best I’ve heard yet.”

His source. I haven’t paused yet to consider how Orlando knew about the Night Council. Really, it probably wasn’t that hard to figure out Elena was part of it, she was very obviously in charge of the party the night I was announced to the community as the new council member. It wouldn’t take Sherlock to figure that one out.

But who the hell told him there is a Night Council in the first place?

“I’ll leave when this is taken care of,” Orlando says as he claps a hand down on Roman’s shoulder. “Someone will talk. The reward has gone up to twenty thousand,” he says loudly so everyone in the room can hear him. “I’m staying at The Carmon Hotel. Come find me if you’d like to do the right thing.”

Orlando walks right out the doors, his House members trailing after him.

It’s silent for a good sixty seconds once they’re gone. The shock of what’s just happened lies heavily on everyone’s tongues.

And no one here, besides Roman, Sebastian, and maybe Mason, knows Elena isn’t still dead.

Eyes start shifting around. They go to the guilty parties. Mason. Roman. Myself. And Sebastian.

No one gave us up.

But it isn’t safe to talk right now. Anyone could still be listening from the House. And who is the one who betrayed us? I don’t want to think it’s anyone we’ve trusted, but who the hell knows?

“Go home,” Roman says in a low, rough voice. “I’ll handle this.”

The tension in the room is thick. No one moves at first. But Sebastian peels away from the wall. Mason wipes his face and strides toward us.

We need to have a council meeting. Right now. We need to warn Sigrid.

But just how much do we dare push our luck? If the council gathers right now, it might be way too obvious.

“Sebastian, you feel like making some breakfast?” I ask. “I need to change first, but it’s been way too long since we all got together. It’s dark times like these that we need to stick together.”

The surprise in Mason’s eyes only lasts a second before he realizes what I’m doing.

We need to get together, but there’s every chance each of our places is being watched. But until tonight, Sebastian has had zero ties to the Royal’s presence.

“Of course,” Sebastian says smoothly, instantly catching what I’m truly asking. “I’ll get the food cooking. Come by whenever you’re ready.”

We step into the elevator and ride down in silence. I hate this level of paranoia. It might be different from when I learned Sebastian was stalking me, but it makes my skin crawl too. Nowhere feels safe right now.

We all go our separate ways when we walk outside. Even Roman heads off. If anyone is following us, watching us, we need to lose them if possible.

I go by the hospital first. I check in on things, but my brain is entirely absent. After twenty minutes, I head back to my apartment. There, I change and scrub my hands clean. I tried to be careful not to get Elena’s blood on me, but there’s still a smear of it over my left thumb. When I’m clean and ready, I head back outside and take a route I would normally never take to head to Sebastian’s building.

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