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I hung my head. “I can’t!” I moaned. “Elijah won’t stand down.”
“You can!” Etta begged, stepping toward me, her eyes bugging with panic. “You’re immortal. Put yourself in between them, and make Elijah stop. I’ll personally ensure that Orson gives up the territory if you let him live!”
I raised my head, but before I could speak, Maisie appeared at Etta’s side. I stared at the fae, wondering why she was there, and her eyes clashed with mine.
“Go now!” Etta screeched, waving her hands. “Orson’s already weakened. It might be too late!”
I bit on my lip and looked back, but when I looked at Maisie, she frowned deeply. Again, I was wrought with that sense that I was missing something major.
Etta hissed, her face twisting in a way I’d never seen before, and suddenly, a lightbulb clicked inside me. Slowly, I turned back to her, my eyes narrowing. That feeling that had been gnawing at me was now back full force, and I recognized that it had to do with Etta.
“Why are you standing there?” Etta implored me. “Orson could be dead already. Abby, I thought you were better than this!”
“How did you know I’m immortal?” I whispered.
Through my peripheral vision, Maisie’s face relaxed, her arms folding contentedly over her chest. I had asked the question she wanted me to ask.
What does Maisie know?
Half a dozen images popped through my mind, Maisie cornering me, warning me.
Not threatening; warning.
About Etta?
Dizzy confusion tickled my brain, but I didn’t let it get the best of me.
“What?!” Etta snapped. “What are you going on about? We don’t have time for this!”
But I wasn’t going anywhere without Etta’s answer, and I could smell her anxiety, my shifter senses on high alert. The din of the attack fell away, my only concern in the moment directly in front of me.
“I only found out I was immortal recently. I haven’t told anybody. How did you know?” I pressed, stepping closer to Etta. “You just said I was immortal.”
The fae’s face paled, her irises popping, but Maisie’s look of satisfaction grew.
Finally!she said with her eyes.You’re not as dumb as I thought you were.
“I…” Etta sputtered. “We can talk later…”
She looked desperately toward Maisie. “Maisie, help me. Orson has been good to you, too.”
“I know whose idea the trafficking was in the first place, Etta. You always were an evil little wench, even when we were young,” Maisie spat. “I just never thought anyone could really be this despicable.”
Etta’s eyes bugged. “How dare you! I’ve had you in my house! I called you my friend.”
“Because I wanted to keep an eye on you and Orson,” Maisie agreed. “I loathed every second of it.”
“What?” I cried.
“She knows all about you,” Maisie offered with her customary leer. “She’s always known about the mate bond and how it ensures immortality. I surmised that she was worried Elijah would figure it out when he returned from the war, too, and reclaim you as his mate, making you too powerful to overtake in Pario City.” Maisie paused delicately, casting Etta a scathing look. “That’s why she couldn’t allow for Elijah to return from the war and find out about it, too. Am I mostly right, Etta?”
Blankly, I looked at Maisie.
“W-what are you talking about?” I sputtered, my voice catching.
Maisie smirked at Etta.
“Why don’t you tell her, Etta? Tell her how you buried her mate alive just so that they could never be together and rule Pario City because of your grand ambitions? Tell her how you promised Orson the world if he covered for you and buried Elijah alive after you enacted that spell on him, making everyone believe he was dead.”
