Page 145 of By the Moonbeam and the Mist
“It’s beenmonths, girl. Dyonisia is getting impatient for a status update thatIhaven’t been able to give her, because you’rehere playing dress up at a frilly little ball instead of working on acquiring what you promised me.”
At those last few words, my grip tightened on the knife, pressing it a fraction of an inch deeper into my skin.
A pinprick of pain flared against me where a warm bead of blood swelled at the point of contact and rolled down between my breasts.
“I’m getting closer,” I rasped.
“Howclose?Whencan you get me those pills?”
My hand pushed the point of the blade in even deeper.
“This weekend!” I burst out, forcing out the fraction of the truth I could give him—the pillswouldbe ready this weekend. But I knew I needed to provide a few more maybe-not-quite-as-true details to make it believable. “Steeler said he’s taking me to the ship this weekend,” I made up. “That’s where the pills are made and stored. And I’ll have direct access to them because he trusts mecompletelynow.”
Lexington exhaled heavily through his parted mouth. I’d barely had time to smell his breath on my face when he fell with a thud into my mind, the giant worm of his consciousness sliding right up to mine.
“Are you lying to me?” that worm asked.
I willed my consciousness to stare straight ahead. To pretend like I wasn’t a Mind Manipulator, that I didn’t see him invading my icescape with his fleshy presence.
“No,” I said out loud.
To my surprise, Lexington withdrew without tunneling through my gate for any further information. A frown yanked on his mouth, deep and assessing.
“The pills don’t make youtrulylove him, right?”
“No,” I said again.
“So you wouldn’t care about all the other traitors he grew up with in Hallow’s Perch?”
I kept my face a careful portrait of appropriate fear even as my heart plummeted to my feet at the thought of that lighthouse and the faeries who met us there every weekend. Steeler’s friends.Myfriends now, too. This was clearly a way to test my reaction to a deeper threat, and I was determined to pass it. To pretend like those wordsdidn’tsink into my gut like stones.
“No. I wouldn’t care.”
Lexington surveyed me as if he’d never quite seen me before now. The trails of his eyes seemed to leave sticky residues all over my face.
“Good,” he said finally, grabbing the edges of his cloak and turning to leave. “I’ll give you until the end of this weekend to secure the pills, girl. If you don’t follow through by then, I’ll let Dyonisia know that you have failed your mission and must face retribution for your crimes. Oh, and…” He paused with his back to me. “If you see your roommate around, go ahead and disable her with that.” He jerked his head back at my knife still pressed against my own chest. “She’s been spying on confidential government affairs.”
I waited several minutes after he’d rounded the corner before I finally allowed myself to remove the blade against my skin and slide it back into its sheath.
You knew?I sent out toward the dark, fathomless presence I could feel hovering on the periphery of my mind.
That you managed to shake off his command in time but decided to play along anyway?Steeler replied, slipping through the crack in my blockade. I closed it back up as soon as his consciousness was safe inside, shielding our thoughts from outsiders.Yes.Your wrist wasn’t quivering with enough resistance.A growl caressed the edge of his voice.I would have torn out his throat if you’d been in any real danger.
Every coherent thought in my brain got stuck in an endless swirl. Steeler had trusted me. Not only that, but he’d knownme well enough to see through my deception. Had paused long enough to notice my tells before jumping in to save me…
Which made something vital inside me feel like it was melting away at the edges.
How’s Dazmine?I asked instead of trying to respond to that.
I still felt the ring of Lexington’s last words in my ears:she’s been spying on confidential government affairs.So Mr. Gleeklehadspotted her in the jungle that day and passed the information along to the Good Council. Lexington must have been on his way to wipe her memory of what she’d witnessed. He’d probably never expected to discover that she knew so, so much more than that.
Safe on the ship,Steeler said.I stayed until she passed the Old Veracious test, or I would’ve returned sooner.
A breath of relief whooshed out of me, even while that guilt still clawed at my stomach. Dazmine was off the island, out of Lexington’s reach—but still surrounded by a ship-full of lethal faeries who’d held a magic sword to her neck in greeting.
I doubt Terrin will let any of them get within two feet of her, actually.
Under normal circumstances, I might have pressed Steeler for details about the reasoning behind that mischievous tone. But at the mention of Terrin…
