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My chest tightened. I pulled her onto my lap. “If Kuro had sent you on a different job…”
My arms tightened convulsively around her. I’d come so close to losing her all together.
She craned her neck so she could see my face. “Then you believe me?”
I nodded. I didn’t even have to think about it. “And yeah, I believe you because I can read you better now. But I’d believe you anyway.”
“Why?” Her brows pinched together. The answer mattered to her.
“Because your story fits everything else I know. You even knew I was at Zaq and Renata’s ceremony.”
“Oh.” Her face fell. “Well, good, because it’s the truth.”
“If you’re asking do I believe you because I trust you…”
“It’s okay. I understand why you don’t.”
“Hey.” I gave her a shake. “That’s not what I meant. What I’m trying to say is that I’m not there yet, but I’m getting there. The fact that you told me the whole story helps.”
She dipped her chin. “Fair enough. And Kuro’s bound to approach me again. Now that we’re working together, maybe we can out the bastard. Actually, maybe you shouldn’t have moved me into your apartment—it makes it harder for him to get to me.”
“We’ll get him,” I said, hard-voiced. “But I’m not risking you to catch him. In fact, maybe I should send you off-island until this is over.”
“You really think I’d be any safer? Kuro could be anyone, you know. If he’s able to power a glamour like we think, there’s a good chance he’s someone you know—a soldier, a member of your staff. If you send me off-island, he might follow.”
She was right. At least this way, I could see to her protection myself. “By now, word will have spread that you accepted my blood bond. The syndicate will know that touching you would be an unforgivable insult to me.”
She snaked an arm around my neck. “And I want to stay here with you.”
I nodded. “If you stay, you’re confined to my apartment until after the challenge. The only people allowed in will be William or Kerry, and they’ll have orders not to let you out.”
“All right.”
I cocked a brow. “All right? You’re not going to fight me on this?”
She shook her head. “I think it’s smart for me to lay low. And it’s only for a day, right?”
“Yeah.” By midnight tonight, things would be settled one way or the other.
My phone buzzed. I shifted on the couch so I could take it out of my pocket.
“It’s Cain,” I told Twilight and accepted the call. “What have you got?” I asked.
Twilight leaned her head against my chest, listening. I ran my hand down her braid. I was probably allowing her too much access to intel, but it felt like she was my partner in this.
And from one heartbeat to another, I realized I did trust her. Her story rang true, and maybe she’d been right not to tell me everything before now. When I’d first brought her to the island, I’d been angry and suspicious of her. I probably would’ve figured she was playing me in order to get me to release her.
“This guy’s good, whoever he is,” Cain said grimly. “And he’s definitely got access to the castle—either he’s in here himself, or he’s working with an insider.”
“Explain.”
“That day Twilight was in the ballroom? The footage of the exits on that side of the castle has been wiped. Thirty minutes of it in the middle of the afternoon.”
I muttered a curse. Twilight pulled back and met my eyes, frowning.
“Yeah,” said Cain. “We have to consider the possibility that he’s working for Prosper. Not many people have that kind of access.”
My hand tightened on the phone. “I know.”
