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A short silence. Then he said, “That Moreau is the man who killed Charlotte.”
What? My lungs clamped. The room went dark.
For a few seconds, I couldn’t breathe or see or hear. It was the opposite of the unreality I’d felt earlier. This was too real, like I’d stepped into a bottomless black pool and the waters had closed over my head.
I looked at Zaq, head swimming, mouth moving but no words coming out.
He enfolded me in his arms. “It’s okay. I’ve got you.”
I buried my face in the V of his T-shirt.
“Ridley?” asked de Froulay.
“Breathe,” Zaq said against the top of my head. His big hand massaged my back. “Take your time.”
My shoulders heaved. I managed to unlock my lungs. My breath whooshed in. I kept my nose against his skin, his now-familiar scent a lifeline that pulled me out of the black place until I could think again.
“Ridley?” It was de Froulay again. “Are you still there?”
Zaq took the phone, keeping an arm around my shoulders. “She’s here. She’s had a shock, is all.”
“This is Zaquiel?”
“Yes.”
“I can talk.” I reached for the phone and Zaq handed it to me. I gripped the phone. “It’s me. I’m…okay.”
“My apologies,” de Froulay said. “From what you said, I thought you’d discovered it yourself.”
“You’re sure?” I asked. “You have proof?”
“Yes. I have evidence that he and two of his men were in Pennsylvania on that night and a few nights before. I’m following up on the evidence right now, but it was him. I have no doubts about that.”
“Okay.” I stared unseeingly at the bookcase across from me. “You haven’t moved against him yet? You remembered your promise?”
“But of course. I was planning on contacting you tonight, actually. The first man went to his final death five years ago, but the second is in one of my cells. He’s admitted traveling to America with Moreau to find you and your mother. He couldn’t tell me how Moreau knew about you, though.”
The shock had worn off. The anger and hatred I’d carried all these years congealed into something coldly vengeful.
“Moreau is mine,” I said between clenched teeth.
Zaq had kept an arm around me. He squeezed my shoulders. “Ours.”
We shared a long look that was a mini-conversation. He told me he wanted—no, needed—to be part of this, and I agreed.
I slid my arm around his waist. “Ours.”
To de Froulay, I said, “We’ll be there ASAP.”
“I’ll make sure he doesn’t go anywhere.”
“Good.” I took a breath. I’d been undercover for most of my adult life. The habit of keeping secrets was hard to break. But if Karoly Kral was going to use me against the SI Board, then de Froulay should be informed about my previous career. “And that rumor you heard about me being a slayer? It’s true.”
De Froulay released a pained sigh. “I was afraid of that.”
Karoly had rested a lean hip against Zaq’s desk, taking in everything, his face expressionless. Now he stirred. “Ask Leo about the money behind the hit on you and Zaquiel.”
I nodded and told de Froulay about the attack on me and Zaq. “Zaquiel’s man looked into it and found evidence that the order came from the Paris Syndicate.”
