Page 126 of Liars

But then I heard it. A faint murmur of voices.

I caught Mason’s eyes, then Maddox’s and Nash’s, silently passing the message to keep quiet. We moved as one, creeping through the garage toward the hallway leading to the offices. The closer I got, the more I could make out the voice threading through the silence.

Kaylor.

She was here.

A dim glow seeped out from under a door at the end of the hall. I didn’t hesitate. My hand wrapped around the doorknob, and I wrenched it open, body tensed and ready for a fight.

But the room was empty.

No Kaylor. No guards. No crew.

Nothing but the soft light coming from a single object on the desk.

A phone.

Herphone.

A sinking feeling settled in my gut. My fingers clenched around the device as I lifted it, and that’s when I heard it—her voice. Not a recording but a live call. Someone had called her phone and left it for me to find, letting me listen, but with no way to get to her.

“What are you talking about…Rusty?”

My grip tightened around the phone, my knuckles aching. I could hear Kaylor’s unsteady breathing, the tremor in her voice as she spoke, but it was the deep, gravelly voice responding to her that sent ice through my veins.

Rusty.

A sick, burning sensation tore through my gut—fury and fear tangled so tight I couldn’t tell one from the other.

“Frauds. All of them,” Rusty said. “Everything you’ve been told has been a lie.”

“No,” Kaylor said, her voice sharp but laced with uncertainty. “Donovan—he’s my godfather. An old friend of my father’s. He?—”

Rusty’s laugh was humorless. “Is that what he told you? Donovan isn’t your godfather, Kaylor. He was never your father’s friend.”

I went completely still, blood roaring in my ears.

“The Corvos, they’re not who they say they are,” Rusty went on.

“But the will—” A shaky breath came through the receiver, and I could picture Kaylor, standing somewhere dark and cold, trying to piece together the truth from the wreckage of lies.

“It was a setup, Kay. The lawyer, the will, the guardianship. Donovan wanted you under his control.”

My heart dropped ten flights of stairs.

“W-Why would he do that?” she stuttered, something I learned she only did when she was truly upset.

“Retaliation,” Rusty stated. “He’s the one responsible for your parents’ death.”

My grip on the phone nearly cracked the plastic casing.Oh, God. I had to get to her.

Now…before it was too late.

My breathing came out uneven. “Kaylor,” I said, but she didn’t respond. At least not to me. Her focus was on Rusty as he untangled the web of lies we’d woven.

“You lie.” Her disbelief made my heart skip. How many times had I told her not to trust me? I hadn’t been lying then. “Why would they have any reason to murder my parents?” she asked,trying to make sense of what her father’sactualclosest friend was telling her.

“It’s the truth,” Rusty cut her off. “And you need to accept it. You’ve been living with the enemy, Kaylor. Sleeping underhisroof. You think you’ve been safe? You’ve been a pawn.”

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