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I walked over, tucking inside. And sitting in the corner, the dim lamp illuminating it like a spotlight, sat an open bag of coffee.Mycoffee.
Sure, it could have been a mistake. I checked anyway, walking over and sticking my hand inside. I picked up a handful of beans, inspecting them, even though they looked normal.
I dug my hand in a little deeper, poking around for a second before my hand hit something hard. It was a small vial from the feel of it. I pulled it out, and sure enough, it was a vial of white powder.
I shook my head, only for myself. It wasn’t a secret that I loved this coffee. But it was a secret that the only people who drank it were me and Lukas.
I pocketed the vial until I could find somewhere safe to inspect it. For all I knew it was poison.
And something was telling me it was.
Instead of heading for the training room first, I went to check our rooms. It was midday, normally about the time Lukas and I went back for a second cup.
The secret hallways got me to the room in a second, but I stopped short at the door. Someone was inside.
Before reason could outweigh the need to catch whoever that was, I pushed open the door.
“What the hell are you doing?”
Piper—fuckingPiper—was standing at the cabinet that our coffee rested on, my cup of cream in one hand and a smaller white vial, a miniature of the one in my pocket, in the other.
She whipped around, startled by the sound of my voice. It was quickly replaced by a sneer. “You aren’t supposed to be here.”
“That’s what you have to say for yourself? No excuses?”
Piper’s lip curled. “For all I know, you can tell if I’m lying.”
I let out a bitter laugh. “That isn’t among my powers, but even if you had, I think this,” I took the vial out of my pocket and motioned with my chin at the one in her hand, “would help me figure that out on its own.”
Piper’s hand tightened over the vial, and she set the cream down but stayed silent.
The puzzle pieces started forming in my mind. “Let me guess, you were poisoning me?”
Piper’s refusal to speak gave me my answer.
I scoffed. “The fact that you’re doing it isn’t as concerning as your methods. You knew that only I would be using that cream. And you found your way in here without alerting our guards. So, who told you, huh?”
Either Piper was being intentionally obtuse or giving me the silent treatment. I got my answer when Avery stepped out of my room.
“Oh, Avery.” He was too young to be involved with this.
Avery was armed with two long knives, enough to cut right through my stomach and stick out the back. “I don’t want to hurt you, Lady Athena.”
“Then why are you doing this?”
Avery shook his head rapidly. “I had to.”
Oh, Avery. This time silently. “Well. We’ll get to that soon.”
In the meantime, I had to stall. I was currently sending probing waves out into the water, searching for any sea life outside.
Loretta, bless her, swam into view a second later, floating right over the balcony outside.
“Piper, anything to add?” I asked, while I sent Loretta an image of Lukas. I wasn’t in immediate danger, but she needed to get him. Now.
She understood me because she swam off with a powerful flip of her tail.
When Piper shook her head, I turned to Avery again. “If you need help, Avery, I can provide that.”
