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“We’ll have it removed, of course,” he says.
I silently hope that he forgets about it. I don’t want the small reminder of my past stripped from me. I pick up a fork and run it through a pile of mashed yams.
Cormac watches me over the rim of his highball. “This reminds me of our first meal together.”
“Getting sentimental?” I ask, bringing a small bite to my lips and hating myself a little for feeling hungry, hating myself for accepting food from him. Even hunger feels like a weakness. I want him to fear me.
“You barely ate that day either,” he says, swirling the amber liquid. “We had potential then, you and I. I’m afraid only one of us is living up to it.”
I snort and allow myself to take a second, larger bite. My first meal with Cormac was at Nilus Station on the night of my retrieval, when the Guild came to take me away to become a Spinster. He had insisted that I eat that night, too. I hadn’t been sure if Cormac would become a friend or not that night. One moment he seemed to want to earn my trust and the next he was
threatening me. Now I knew the truth. Cormac Patton, now the prime minister of Arras, would work any angle he could to get me on his side. He made my own mother into a monster. He altered my friend to follow me. He even brainwashed my sister, Amie, into buying his idea of a perfect world. All while he stripped Earth of its fundamental elements in order to build Arras into an empire. I know he’s going to destroy both worlds unless I can convince him to find a peaceful solution. Or I finally figure out how to destroy him.
Whichever comes first.
“I still have potential,” I say finally. “And I’m ready to use it.”
“A threat?” Cormac raises his eyebrows as he takes a draft of his bourbon.
“A truce.” It sounds strange coming from my lips, but I know this is exactly what he wants to hear. If I’m smart I can use Cormac like he’s used me, but only if I play my cards right.
“You never stop surprising me, Adelice Lewys.” Admiration colors his voice, and I feel dirty.
“I’ve had time to think,” I say, pushing my true feelings aside. “I understand now that compromises must be made to help both worlds.”
“I couldn’t agree more.”
I muster up a smile for him. This is how I’ll get what I need. Earn his trust until he slips up or gives in. I can do this. I have to.
“There’s one last order of business I need to discuss with you.” Cormac reaches inside his tuxedo jacket and I stiffen.
“No need to be afraid,” he says. “You’re right that a truce is exactly what will bring these worlds together. And what better way of sealing our commitment to this compromise than by truly committing to each other?”
A small velvet box rests in his palm and my eyes fly to his, every bit of me willing him not to open it. But his thumb flips up the lid to reveal a ring.
“I told you before that I needed a wife,” Cormac says, placing the box on the table.
“I heard you found one,” I mumble. I abandon my fork and my meal to stare at the delicate curve of the golden band and the overlarge diamond cushioned in the center.
Cormac said we would work together, but I hadn’t thought he meant this. Not after everything that’s happened.
“She was deemed unsuitable in more ways than one.” Cormac leans forward, steepling his fingers thoughtfully. His cold black eyes stay on me.
“Maela?” I assume. She was the person most likely to ascend to the position, and the person most likely to fly into a murderous fit of rage and lose her chance. I’d seen her instability more than once while she lorded over my training at the Coventry. I relied on it during my escape, when I couldn’t reach Erik by myself. I let her push him into the tear I had created. All I had to do was mention kissing him.
“Never,” he said with a groan. “She’s too … eager.”
“She’s too cunning,” I correct him.
“Either way, Maela would be a poor candidate for the position.” Cormac laughs as though we’re playing a new game.
I’d suspected from my interactions with her at the Coventry that something had gone wrong between Cormac and Maela. Now I’m certain I was right. I’d been on the bad end of Maela’s temper while I was under her watch. She had often abused her position training the incoming Eligibles. I can’t imagine the destruction she’d have caused as Cormac’s wife.
But if it wasn’t Maela, that left a frightening possibility.
“Not my … sister?” I ask, dreading his answer.
“Much too young,” Cormac says. It should be reassuring that he sees her this way, but I also know this means Amie is still the same giddy girl who mooned over a bakery cake on my retrieval night. And Cormac has been molding her—altering her—for over a year to trust him and the Guild.
