A look of distrust flickers from him toward me. “That’s a very strange talent for a mere human.”
“He has nothing to prove to you,” Rhiannon says, “and besides, it’s me you have to convince, isn’t it?”
He averts her eyes, staring down at the floor in contemplation. “After dinner,” he says, finally, “I followed your orders. I escorted Haron to the Luna’s garden. We walked down the first lane of roses, she commented on how beautiful they were, and then I woke up in my quarters alone.”
Rhiannon frowns, and I expect her to turn to me to see if what he just said was true, but she doesn’t. Instead, she asks, “What happened after she commented on the roses?”
He looks up at her, exhausted. “I just told you. I woke up in my room with no memory of how I got there, or even where this burn on my arm came from. I only know that I was escorting the Elder’s daughter one minute, and the next, I’m in my bed. Moments later, you came to arrest me.”
Her frown deepens. “Did you pass out? Were you feeling ill?”
“No.” He doesn’t blink. “I don’t think so, anyway. I felt fine after dinner, Commander.”
“Did she say anything to you that might’ve angered you? Or perhaps she threatened you with a weapon?”
He shakes his head.
“Did she cast a spell?” I offer, not even sure if the Shaman can do that.
“I don’t know. I don’t remember.”
Rhiannon rolls her eyes in frustration, and I can’t say that I blame her. Nothing he’s said absolves him of his guilt. In fact, he’s confirming that Haron didn’t provoke him.
“Jayme.” She steps closer to the bars. “You need to tell me everything that happened. Don’t you understand that I can’t help you—”
“Iamtelling you everything!” His voice drops to a snarl. He runs a hand over his face in exasperation, then stands up and faces her, leaning against the bars. “I want nothing more than to be proven innocent. You know how much effort I’ve put into earning my place in this pack. I would never risk that for some Shaman girl.”
He pauses and glances at me. “Do you have any idea what I—wesuffered in the Gorg pack? We were beaten daily for the smallest of offenses from the time we were whelps. By the time we were grown and fighting for the Shaman, Branson and I hadbecomethe animals they treated us as. We had to kill to survive. We neither knew nor cared for anything outside of war. Since I’ve been with this pack, I have learned that I am so much more than just a beast. Why would I ruin that?”
I don’t respond, as Rhiannon instructed. His words aren’t really for me anyway.
The grief on Rhiannon’s face is plain, impossible to hide. “I know,” she says with conviction. “I know how hard you’ve been working. I don’t believe you’d throw that away.”
“Then believe me when I say that I wouldn’t do this. I know what it could cost.”
She just stares at him. Her expression gives nothing away, but she reaches out and touches his hand, which is clasped around the bar. “I’m sorry, Jayme. You will have to stay here for now. Elder Stasio won’t stand for you to be freed while his daughter lies in the infirmary, and our Alpha can’t risk losing Stasio’s trust at the moment. You understand that, don’t you?”
Instead of answering, Jayme just stares at her, pleading with his eyes. “Promise you’ll fight for me, Commander.”
She nods. “That much I can promise. I will allow Branson to visit you unaccompanied in the meantime, but no one else. Please be patient. We’ll get to the bottom of this.”
And with that, she turns to me, signaling our departure. As we walk away, he calls after me, “Uphold your duty, Truth Seer! Our lives depend on it.”
I don’t know how to respond to that. I barely even know what a seer is. I stay quiet as I follow Rhiannon out of the dungeons.
The moment the door closes behind me, Rhiannon’s light brown eyes lock onto mine. “Do you think he’s telling the truth?”
I sigh, sorting through the mess of signals I just witnessed. “For the most part, yes.”
She narrows her eyes. “What does that mean?”
“I mean, as far as he knows, it’s the truth.”
She squares up to me. “You’re speaking in riddles. Was he being truthful or not?”
“Mostly.” When she rolls her eyes, I throw up my hands. “It’s not that simple, okay? Not this time. Body language gets muddled when people carry baggage like his.”
“Baggage?”
