Page 272 of Trick or Stalk

“Two minutes.”

Wilder sits. “Generous.”

I take another drink of coffee. “You have one minute and fifty-five seconds.”

He leans back in the chair. For once, he doesn't look amused. “I fucked up.”

That isn't what I expected.

I lower my cup.

“At the festival. At the party. The mask.” He rubs a hand over his jaw. “That was me.”

“I know.”

“Yeah.”

“You helped him lie to me.”

“I did.”

“You made me think they were two different people.”

“Yes.”

No excuse. No but. No attempt to soften it.

My anger shifts slightly. It doesn’t lessen. It’s just... different.

“Why’d you do it?”

“Because Hades asked me to.”

I give him a disbelieving look. “That might be the shittiest explanation I've ever heard.”

“It isn't an explanation.”

“Sounds like one.”

“It's the reason I did it. Doesn't mean it was right.”

I stare at him.

Wilder looks down at the table. “I've been doing stupid shit because Hades asked me to for most of my life.”

“That's reassuring.”

His mouth twitches. “Probably shouldn't have said that.”

“Probably not.”

Silence stretches between us.

Then I glance toward the counter. Gracie is pretending not to watch us. She’s doing a terrible job. She immediately ducks behind the espresso machine—and hits her head.

Typical Gracie.

When I look at Wilder again, he's watching me.