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My breath hitched at the realization. I hadn’t been the only one whose dreams Damien had been haunting.
I jumped up from the deck. “Where is Collin?”
Gerarda’s eyes widened as she joined the group. “He stayed in Aralinth with Rheih and Maerhal.”
“He was in no state to come and fight, Keera,” Vrail said gently, nestled beside Nikolai. “He’s been ill for months.”
“No, he hasn’t been.” I gritted my teeth. How could it have taken me so long to see the truth? Collin had been avoiding sleep for just as long as I had been. Why hadn’t I considered that he was equally afraid to reveal his reasons?
I turned to Killian, who was still sitting on the rigging I had been lying on. “Did Collin ever travel with you to the palace?”
Killian’s brow furrowed.
“It only had to be once,” I added, impatient.
Killian glanced at Syrra and then back to me. “Not the palace. But he would join us whenever I needed to be in the capital. Several times.”
I turned to Syrra. “Were you always together at a safe house?”
“No, we each had our own duties to attend to.” She folded her arms. The scars along her shoulders stretched and shimmered in the midday sun.
“He would frequent one of the pubs in the third circle,” Nikolai cut in, his eyes were bright red as he looked up at me. “He could pass as a Mortal easily enough and it was a good crowd for overhearing things useful to the rebellion.”
“The Silver Crown?” I guessed. It was a favorite place of respite for the royal guards. We had Shades stationed in their midst eachnight keeping their ears open for useful information to report. I had been thrown out of it on several occasions.
Nikolai nodded.
My stomach dropped. So Damien would have more than enough opportunity. Any of those guards could have been under his command and if Collin had drank enough, he might not even remember a small prick to the neck.
Syrra grabbed my hand. “Keera, what did you see in your dream?”
“Riven was right.” I huffed. “Whatever Damien did to me, he did to other Halflings first. And I think he did it to Collin.”
Five pairs of eyes stared at me in disbelief.
“Damien said the others weren’t aware of his presence. What if he could shift through their minds unnoticed? Pose as people they knew and have them confess information in their dreams?” My heartbeat quickened and I started to pace along the deck of the ship. “Collin wouldn’t have known, not until—”
“Keera, what are you saying?” Killian grabbed both my arms and stopped me. His jade eyes were filled with worry but all I could see was the deep amber rings around their pupils. It was the same color as Damien’s new eye.
“Collin was the mole. All along.” I turned to the others. “He was the one feeding information to Damien, but he never knew it. The storehouses, the Halflings, the rebellion’s missions. Collin was privy to almost all of it.”
Vrail shook her head. “Tarvelle was the one passing information along to Curringham.”
I snapped my head to Elaran. “You were certain those meetings never took place. That you would have known about them. And Tarvelle’s own family has never believed it. We only did because we didn’t know the truth was possible.”
“But how do you know it’s Collin?” Killian crossed his arms. “By that logic, Damien had access to anyone who frequented the capital.” He turned toward the group. “That’s almost everyone aboard this ship.”
I shook my head. “But how many of us have done whatever it takes to keep from sleeping?”
Nikolai’s jaw dropped. “None of the healers have been able to heal him.”
“Because guilt is not something you can heal with a concoction.” My voice rasped at the realization of how much guilt Collin had been carrying. “Collin and Tarvelle were close. Close enough for him to know he couldn’t have possibly been the mole. I doubt it took him long to suspect what really happened once Tarvelle’s body had been left hanging in that city.”
Syrra tilted her head to Killian. “He has recused himself from almost every meeting since. He refuses to go on missions. He could have been trying to—”
“Protect us,” I finished for her. The word felt heavy on my tongue, like a truth I couldn’t swallow. I had let my own fears and my own vices obscure what was right in front of me. I was so willing to believe Damien’s lies because one Elf had been brazen enough to show his distaste for me.
Tarvelle had been nothing but a ploy. An easy target for Damien to lay the blame on while still keeping his eye on the Faeland.
