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Lilith moves her hands to the coffee table. I watch as she squeezes the edge. “The Dolls, I’m guessing.”
“Continue.” Kauis gestures with his hand.
“We aren’t just performers with the show.” My eyes narrow and I take a step toward her, but Eli pulls me back. Motherfucker. “We’re military trained. Combat, weapons, endurance—you name it and we’ve been through it.”
“That’s why you only had two guards?” Kauis asks, and I watch as his eyes light.
“Yes,” Lilith says. “Because we were his weapon. Their ultimate weapon.”
“And the men who you killed on stage? How did that come about?”
This time Lilith pauses for longer, and she turns over her shoulder, looking at both Eli and me from the corner of her eye. “My friend Bear, let’s just say she has a… hobby.”
“Oh?” I shove my arm out of Eli’s grip, slowly walking around behind Kauis, needing to watch Lilith’s eyes. I need to catch the lie as it slips between her sinful lips. “What is that? If it’s important to the story.”
“She reads cards. Tarot, angel, and at times… well, criminal cards. She has a vendetta against a certain breed. She made the list of men to kill; I just did the deed.”
“But you were the leader?” Kauis asks, and I watch as she keeps her eyes trained on him.
It doesn’t matter. I know in the back of my brain, if she was trained for this, she knows how to lie her way through. I have to be sure, though. I can’t risk losing her wrongfully. Not again. Something tells me if I fuck it up again, it’ll be the last time I get to do it.
“Yes,” she answers smoothly. “Because I trusted her. I entertained her and the games she liked to play.”
“Who was she?” Kauis asks, and I see the moment she freezes. Her shoulders stay stiff, her mouth closing tight.
“I don’t believe that’s my secret to tell, with all due respect.”
Kauis leans forward, and I watch as Kohen shifts out of the shadows from where he’s standing. A top hat sits on his head, with his signature makeup smudged beneath his eyes. I can almost feel the vibration of his body pulse around the room. That and the tension from Lilith. “Who is Bear, Lilith?”
Lilith finally breaks eye contact with Kauis and lands right on Kohen. “Dove. Dove Noctum Hendry.”
I knew Cartier wasn’t going to say anything about Dove, but if anyone were going to expose Bear’s secret, it would have to be me. It would always have to be me. I watch as they all stare at me with a blank look on their faces.
“You’re lying.” Among all of it, I forgot all about Persephone being Dove’s twin sister—of course King isn’t going to believe me. It would sound hard to believe, but Dove never spoke of Perse. There was an underlying hatred there for Perse, I think, that came from something dark and toxic. I don’t know what Perse did or her story, but I’m guessing whatever it was Dove wanted revenge on it. Me telling them this wouldn’t jeopardize Dove, though. She always told me that if I ever needed to, I could come forward and expose her secret, that she would be ready for them if they came for her—which she knew they would. The other five Dolls were merely acquaintances to me. But Bear was different from the very beginning.
“She is not alive!” King moves closer, his eyes coming straight to me with an evil glare. “If you’re lying about this, Lilith, I will see it punishable.”
I almost laugh, but I don’t. “What the fuck have I got to hide, hmmm? Yes, I wasn’t supposed to tell you who Bear truly was, but now, what have I got to hide? If anything, I want you all to help me find her. She was my best friend. We were dependent on each other in a way that was toxic. I needed her as much as she needed me, and sorry to break it to you, Kingston, but I’m guessing there are things that Perse probably hasn’t been honest with you about either.”
King stares down at me with narrowed eyes. “You’re going in whether Kyrin fights it or not. I’d rather lose you than Cartier.” Then he leaves, and I keep my eyes locked on Kohen. King’s words don’t pierce my heart or hurt—they’re a given. I’d throw Perse to the wolves to save Dove, so I can’t blame him for feeling that way about me. I’m not a good person, and neither are these people, but the only difference between them and me is I don’t pretend to be. I’m a fucking menace, evil and fucking reckless. I can live with that. King can’t. He has to pretend that his precious Persephone is gold.
She’s not.
She’s fucking stained metal.
