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“I went to the library,” he said.
I blinked. “The library?”
Not what I’d expected him to say. Not that I knew what I had expected, but definitely not that.
“Yeah. The humans follow my family—you know that. Social media, the tabloids. I wanted to see what they were saying about me and my brothers.”
“And?”
“There was a picture of Gabriel and Rafe the night after I was captured. And after that, nothing for two weeks. Until today when some paparazzi put up a picture of Gabriel with a woman named Camila Vittore. You know who she is?”
“Just that she and Gabriel were together for a couple years and then when things seemed to be getting serious, she took off.”
He nodded. “Well, she’s back. They were photographed near Gabriel’s building on the Upper East Side.”
“Is that a problem?”
“Hell if I know.” He dragged a hand down his face. “Gabriel must have heard I’m missing. Father would’ve told him, and besides, he knew I was on my way back to New York. So why bother with Camila now unless she came to him? And if that’s true, the timing is pretty damn suspicious. Maybe she’s working with someone—Jessa, for example.”
“Not Jessa.” I shook my head. “Vittore’s not with SI, and we wouldn’t send anyone but a trained slayer into a situation like that. But I suppose she could be working for the Tremblays.”
Zaq pounced on that. “So the Tremblays are part of this. Victorine’s lieutenant was there in the airport, and later at Moreau’s lair. SI’s working with them.”
I hesitated, not sure how much to admit to him. But I needed him to trust me. “Not by my choice. The decision to work with Prima Victorine was made by someone higher up. I can tell you that she came to us first.”
His lip curled. “That’s fucked up. Since when does SI take sides in a syndicate feud?”
“They don’t. Not usually. In fact, this is the first time I’ve ever heard of it.”
“That you know of.”
I shrugged and glanced away, flashing on the video of Étan with his teeth in Zaq’s throat. Guilt slunk, weasel-like, through my chest and settled in the pit of my stomach.
Stepping closer, I touched Zaq’s arm. “I had no clue they’d drink your blood. That was never part of the plan. I’m sorry I couldn’t stop them. I had to pretend I didn’t care or Moreau would’ve kicked me out of his lair.”
His muscles hardened under my fingers. Darkness smoldered way back in his eyes. “They’ll pay. Étan—and Moreau, too.”
It was the first time Zaq had let me see behind his mask—and he had been wearing a mask, more than I’d realized. A cool, controlled, let’s-get-this-done mask. I felt weirdly honored that he’d allowed me to see the anger he must feel at how he’d been treated.
Zaq glanced at my hand on his arm, but not like it bothered him. No, it was a thoughtful look, like he was considering what it meant—and recalling that night in Père Lachaise.
His gaze returned to my face. The darkness remained, but now it had a sexy, speculative edge.
Heat stabbed from my breasts to my womb. I released him and stepped back. “What else did you find out?”
“Who said I found out something else?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know.” I couldn’t explain it myself, but I was sure he was keeping something from me. “You seem upset. More upset than you’d be if this was just about Camila Vittore.”
“Well, you’re right. I am upset. I’m afraid we may have a traitor, someone high up in the hierarchy.”
“A traitor? You found that out at the library?”
“Not at the library. I also went to a couple of vampire dives in Manhattan. And don’t worry, they didn’t know it was me. I can pretty much make myself invisible to vampires—it’s a quirk of my glamour—and they bought it. I was trying to pin down my father’s location, but no one’s heard anything since he left for Paris.” He shook his head. “Anyway, I heard a rumor that the Krals have a traitor. Too many things are being leaked. People are on edge.”
I didn’t say anything, but his gaze sharpened. “You know something.”
I moved a shoulder. I wasn’t ready to tell him that someone had been feeding us high quality intel—and I didn’t mean Jessa. These were things that only someone high in the Kral hierarchy could know.
