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“Be easy, love. But I speak truly. You must go. This isn’t safe for you. ”
“What happened?” I didn’t stop messing with those shackles—surely there was some way to pick them. “And who killed Judge?”
“I don’t know who the killer is. They came for me—”
“Alcántara? The headmaster? Who?”
“Directorate soldiers. Young vampires. It doesn’t matter. ”
There’d been an amused disdain in his voice that I didn’t find funny at all. “It totally matters,” I said. “Could they have been the ones who killed Judge?” Another thought occurred to me, and I struggled to wrap my mind around all the pieces. “Or maybe that has nothing to do with anything. Maybe Judge was killed because he’d planned to escape with Amanda. ”
“Annelise,” he said sternly, and his use of my first name jarred me. “Stop thinking of others. You must leave now, before they return. How did you even find me?”
I hesitated, but I knew there would be no lying to Carden. “Josh told me how to find you. ”
“Josh?” His voice crackled ice-cold. “The Trainee boy? What are you doing meeting with him?”
“He’s not just a random boy. He’s my friend and he helped me find you. ” Saying the words, I realized they were true—somehow, in the past weeks, Josh had become my friend.
“He is just a boy, and you mustn’t trust him or any of them. ”
I heard jealousy in his voice, but instead of it making me nervous, the sound exhilarated me. A guy jealous of another guy over me. I took a step back, unnerved that I couldn’t see his eyes in the darkness. Was he really as vehement as he sounded? “He’s okay,” I assured him. “He’s not like the others. ”
“The others,” he repeated in a snarl. “None of them are okay. You must swear you’ll no longer confide in any of them. ”
I had few friends, and I wasn’t going to shut everyone out just because Carden said so. Who was he to demand that? “I’m not swearing anything. ”
He sighed, sounding so weary, and I wanted to take back my words. I considered making him any promise he wanted to hear, if it might mean hearing a smile in his voice once more. But I didn’t. We were running out of time.
“There must be some way to get out of these. ” I pushed him aside, feeling for the origin of the shackles.
He grunted, and I realized he was holding himself at an angle.
I patted my hands along his body. “Did they hurt you?” His shirt was damp and warm. “Have you been bleeding? Do you need to feed?”
His tone changed, sounding as though he spoke through gritted teeth. “I need you,” he said with a growl in his voice. “But we dare not risk it. They’ll smell you on me. You must leave. Now. ”
I ran my hands along one of the chains to the base. I could feel the rust flaking under my nails. “Not without you. ”
“They’d only find me again. ”
Anger churned me. “Are you giving up?”
“Never,” he said gently. “But the most important thing now is that you remain safe. Alcántara demands a scapegoat, and it appears I am he. ”
“Not if I find the real killer,” I said angrily.
“You’ll do no such thing,” he said instantly, his tone hardening. “Think not of me. ”
“So,” I said, speaking over him, “that’s why you need to tell me about the Draug keeper. ”
“The Draug keeper?” he said, astounded. “What do you know of such things?”
“I know he’s way up on that cliff top, south of the cove. I’m hoping he might’ve seen something. ”
“No,” he said, so forcefully that I knew I was onto something. He repeated the word more calmly. “No. ”
“I will investigate this whether you help me or not. ”
