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Don’t mistake knowing the man for knowing the game.

I looked toward the sitting room.

Nyssa remained beside Bethany.

Still.

Patient.

Waiting.

Then Bethany’s head moved.

Slowly.

Her gaze found Nyssa again. Her lips parted. I couldn’t hear the word from here.

I didn’t need to.

Nyssa.

My hands curled into fists. Bethany hadn’t been dumped. She hadn’t escaped. She’d been released precisely where nobody could see who released her. Then she’d been pointed home.

No.

Not home.

My gaze settled on Nyssa.

Something ugly shifted beneath my ribs.

“She wasn’t released to come back here.”

London followed my stare. “No.”

I looked at him.

He’d already reached the same conclusion.

“She was released to get to Nyssa.”

38

NYSSA

“Nyssa.”

My name again.

The same whisper.

The same empty stare.

I tightened my fingers around Bethany’s hand. “I’m here.”

Nothing.

Her gaze drifted through me.