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He had no reason to distrust Fina; the woman hadn't just been his mentor, but she had also literally saved his life during the war.
Estrella, however...
Hadn't he found her devotion to him questionable from the start? Hadn't she seemed too damn sweet to be real? Her deception, albeit harmless, deeply disillusioned him, and Lysander's pain grew as he wondered what other flaws she might possess that he was simply too blind to see.
IT WAS ALREADY HALF past ten when Estrella woke, and she wasn't surprised at all to see Lysander gone. What she did not expect, however, was to find out that he was really gone, and she could only stare blankly at her sister, more perplexed than angry or offended. "Could you tell me exactly what happened?"
"Sure." Esme did her best to hide her curiosity as she patiently recounted step-by-step her encounter with her brother-in-law for the second time. She had just gotten back from her morning jog, still in Lyccan form, when she saw the Faes come out of the house along with some sketchy-looking chick. She had barked a greeting, just to be polite, and Estrella's husband had walked towards her.
Esmeralda, isn't it?
His ability to recognize her had impressed her a lot, and it had Esme baring her fangs in a smile of approval.
I've received information about Ivy's current hideout, and I need to head back to Coral Springs to prepare my men to go after her. I'm hoping I could leave my wife here in the meantime to ensure her safety. It wasn't too long ago that she survived a kidnapping. I'd rather she sit this one out.
Esme turned to the older girl, saying, "That's it. They left. I had breakfast, you came down, and I passed the message, just like any good sister would."
Estrella slowly sat down. "I...see."
"You know..." Esme cleared her throat. "His words kinda surprised me."
You and me both, Estrella thought.
"I mean, sure, almost getting kidnapped is no joke, but you've survived far worse than that. We've all survived far worse, after what happened at the detention camp. So...what I'm really saying is—-"
"No."
Esme blinked.
"You want to know if the kidnapping attempt gave me some kind of trauma, and the answer is no."
"I knew it," Esme exclaimed. "It just didn't seem like you..."
An idea occurred to her then, and Estrella said slowly, "I think that's it. Kidnapping attempts just piss me off now, but the old me would've been terrified to death." It was the only plausible reason for Lysander to leave her like she was some kind of helpless baby that required cosseting and protecting. And maybe that had been true before...but not anymore.
Chapter Sixteen
Ivy was a Faerie, possessing noble blood and one of the loveliest faces of their race. She would've been the last person for anyone to suspect of treason and treachery, and this was probably why Ivy had found it so damn easy to fool them all. By the time they learned of her perfidy, their realm - the very last refuge of their race - had been razed to the ground, and the Fates once again revealed its fickle nature as the Faes became a stateless kingdom overnight.
A hefty bounty had been placed on her head, but the woman had managed to elude capture...until now.
If Fina's deductions were correct and her sources trustworthy, then Ivy had made camp at an abandoned Chernobyl-like industrial site located several miles away from Coral Springs.
"Since they're here..." Fina placed the red marker to establish the location of the vampires' camp on the digital map displayed by the table's LCD screen. "I suggest we strike from here, which my sources tell me is the one opening they've overlooked."
Alain tapped on the screen, switching map views until it showed the terrain of their target's location. This new layout showed how extremely defensible the area was, and while it could be the reason why the vampires had opted to camp there...
"It's too damn near to our stronghold," he said flatly. Where Faes were, Ivy avoided. That was how she eluded capture all this time...and now Fina wished them to believe the traitor had suddenly made the mistake of doing the exact opposite thing of what kept her alive?
Fina, however, appeared indifferent to Alain's concerns. "Ever heard of reverse psychology?"
Alain didn't even bother to dignify this with a reply.
"Come on, general. When have I ever been wrong?"
"Not once in the past," Alain allowed, "but no one can speak for the future."
"You need to trust me on this, A1. I've been following this lead for months."
Again with that stupid nickname the spymaster alone insisted on using, in spite of Alain's blatant dislike for it. She made him sound like a fucking steak sauce, and one of these days, if she kept on pushing him this way, he might just choose a nickname especially for her as well.
