‘Oh?’
‘She stole something of mine to give Tanner his newestshine,’Lee says, decidedly less soft.‘They were friends before.’
Kade thinks backwards.
Am I supposed to know any of these people?
…Clara, Blaire, Fenwick…
‘Clara?Blaire?’
Lee smiles.‘She should have kept that name.It suited her.’
‘Your sister was Lachlan’s friend?’
‘She was, still is, I believe, although likely not from his perspective.’
‘What did she give him?’
‘A book we both agreed to safeguard from mankind.’
‘That’s where he got his ritual from?’
‘So it would seem.’Lee looks to Riley.‘I’m making it your responsibility to get the book back, and don’t you dare go near my sister.’
‘I won’t.’
‘I can only give you one day before I intervene.’
‘We’ll have it by then.’
‘I trust that you are not foolish enough to try anything,’ she warns Riley softly.‘That ritual called to him and no one else.I have already told you that what you seek is not in there,mon trésor.You trust me as I trust you, yes?’
Lee and Riley stare at one another for a long, tense moment before he breaks first to civility.‘Yes, of course.’
‘Excellent.I will return tomorrow night.Be in possession of it by then or I shall be most disappointed.’Lee winks at Kade.‘À bientôt, mon cœur.’
Then she’s gone, and Kade waits for the hammer to fall.
‘You lied to me.’
‘I didn’tlie,I just… some things are private.I’m allowed secrets.’
‘No, you are not,’ Riley corrects sternly.‘You lied to me in front of her.’
‘You care too much what she thinks of you.’
‘Céliane is—’ Riley cuts himself short.He hardly ever does that.‘This isn’t about her.It’s about you, my second in command, mybestlying to my face.If I ask where Tanner’s gone and when he’s coming back, you tell me.’
‘So you don’t like being lied to then?’
‘Don’t start something you can’t finish.’
‘You’reagainstlying, are you?So what’s this Hush Line bullshit then?Why have you never told me Lee worked for Penhalyx at some point?’
‘He’s not relevant to us.He never sets foot in Varrow City.’
‘Helixx is a global—’
