My gaze slides back to Hawkins’s motionless body. The scent of blood hangs sharp in the air, clogging my nostrils.
Saint stalks toward the edge of the cliff. “Fuck,” I hear him whisper. There’s grief in that one syllable. We all loved Mako. When he turns to me, his voice is low, laced with concern. “You sure you’re all right?”
“I’m fine. What do we do?” I can’t contain the panic. “Should we hide the body? Should we storm the Dagger and confront Kallister about what I overheard?”
He thinks it over for a second. Then says, “No.”
“No to which option?”
“Both.” Saint scans the surrounding forest, his cheek hollowing as if he’s chewing the inside of it. “You can’t confront Kallister until we talk it through with Gray, figure out the best way to play this. And we can’t dump and hide the body. It’ll take Kallister two seconds to figure out Hawkins is dead. If he hasn’t already.”
I frown. “How?”
“Telepathic energy,” Saint reminds me. “It dies when you die. The moment he tries to reach out to Hawkins, he’ll feel that it’s gone.”
Shit. Good point.
“What’s your solution then?”
“We do nothing.” He nods a few times, as if convincing himself the plan is solid. He gestures to Hawkins. “This looks like an animal attack. That’s all it needs to be.”
“And Mako?”
“Mako fell while he and Hawkins were trying to fight off a ridgehowler. All you and I have to do is walk away. Let someone else find the bodies and draw their own conclusions. It was a tragic wolf attack. Nobody will question it.”
I bite my lower lip so hard I draw blood. “We can’t leave Mako out there all night.”
“Darlington—”
“We can’t.”
He takes a breath, then exhales slowly. “All right. I’ll be the one to find the bodies. I’ll call it in to the security booth and request backup.”
I gnaw harder on my lip. “The cameras will have seen me leave the Dagger. They’ll catch me coming back.”
“I’ll handle the cameras.”
“And the guards in the booth?”
“I’ll handle them, too.”
“How?” Panic rises inside me again. “The guards probably already saw me.”
“It’ll be fine, I promise. I’ll plant a few seeds. Make them realize they didn’t actually see you on any cameras. It was just shadows.”
What the hell is he talking about, plant seeds? This camera situation is a real fucking concern and he’s acting like—
I choke on a gasp.
Holy. Hell. Fuck.
“You’re a persuader,” I accuse.
He just winks.
I’m stunned. I remember Kallister telling me that some Mods have the power to plant ideas in people’s minds, but I never even suspected that Saint possessed a manipulation ability.
“Have you ever used it on me?” I blurt out.
