Page 57 of East (The Moral Compass 3)

“Do you always ask multiple questions at one time? It’s hard to keep track of what information you want.”

“I want all of it. Stop deflecting.”

“Okay.” She smiles, looks down at her feet, then back to me. She looks me straight on. “So, I have been working with a guy I met a few years ago. We have teamed up many times. We feed each other information. Then, when we have something solid, we pass it back to the agency.”

“Which agency?”

“You don’t need to ask that, do you? You already know the answer.”

“Are you a Lillie?”

She doesn’t say yes but nods. She’s a Stargazer. What the hell?

“Since when?” North interrupts. “I’ve never seen you before, and you’ve never been at any of the meets.”

“A good few years now. I was part of the very first draft. You were only young, North. I have only ever been to your home once and since then, I have stayed out of sight. It works well. No one expects a little old lady to be badass.” She smiles, and a little giggle escapes.

“Okay, so why are you targeting Drake? Why all the death threats?”

“I’m not. I was with Drake for another reason. The threats are not from me, but I have a theory, and the fact that East is now in trouble, it’s becoming a little more than that. It’s becoming a real situation.”

Kara returns and hands out the drinks.

“Where are we up to?” she asks.

“Crazy Granny here is a Lillie.” North nods in Margarite’s direction. Kara’s eyes widen in shock.

“Really? Oh my god. That’s… totally fucked up,” she says, as surprised as us.

“You’re telling me,” I reply. “So, how did you know East is in trouble?” I ask Margarite.

“I’ve been watching you all for a long time. I actually thought you guys had everything sorted after the abduction and auction. Sorry, Kara.” She gives Kara a sympathetic smile. “The one person that wasn’t being protected was Drake. People know he’s your brother, Zed, and if they want to get to you, he’s a huge target. And, as predicted, he started having troubles, and who comes running? You do.”

“He has a huge security team.”

“Really? And look how good they are. They should have sorted this out after the first threat, but since then the culprits have become more sophisticated and harder to catch. I have a theory on that, too, but that can be dealt with later.”

“I’m getting confused.” Kara sighs.

“You’re not on your own.” I roll my eyes.

“Hey, I’m trying.” Margarite huffs. “My main concern right now is East. She got on a flight to Mexico and on that flight was Matias Costello, previously known as Matias Mortiznic or Matthew Mortimer. He probably has another alias, but he was definitely on that flight.”

That name Mortiznic registers immediately. “He’s a relative of Raphael? How did we not know this?”

“There you go again with the double questions. Stop it!” Margarite grumbles.

“You didn’t know because he didn’t exist. It was only when Raphael killed himself that he came out to the world. He is not on any registries or databases anywhere. No birth certificate or anything. That was two weeks ago. Now, they are flooded with intel. He’s not being very discreet either. It’s like he’s taunting us, wanting us to chase him, and that in itself is crazy shit.”

“So, where is he from?” I ask. Only one question this time.

“He’s from Newcastle in the UK, but he’s lost the accent. He talks like any other toff from London. Full-on Queen’s English.”

“If you knew all this, why didn’t you tell us?”

“Look, East is in grave danger. Matias wants you all dead, and he doesn’t care who he starts with, which is why I think he was behind the threats to Drake. He wanted to draw you out on your own and pick you off first, but then East showed up, then North and Kara, and it became a little too risky.”

My phone vibrates, and I look at the screen.

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