Page 46 of Liar

Savannah’s forehead wrinkles. She lowers her gaze to the ground, thinking. “Wow. That’s not what I expected to hear.”

“Believe me, I wasn’t prepared for it, either.”

Her chin notches up. “If you’re so against this life, why did you join the Societies? Befriend my stepsister? Go after my boyfriend?”

I inwardly cringe. “I admit, it doesn’t look good, but I didn’t do any of that thinking I was replacing you. I just … fell into it.” I step forward, closing some space between us. “Aiko and I grew close because she told me your story and clearly needed some help. I’m good with computers and thought I could give her some closure… then I learned of the Societies, and for a while, I was convinced they were involved in your disappearance.”

Savannah turns her head, staring out over the cliffs. The wind follows her gaze, blowing her hair back from her face.

“Aiko and I concocted this whole plan where we would break into Briar Manor—”

Her eyes fly back to mine.

“—to search for evidence of Damion’s involvement. He’s the king of the Nobles. He had to know something.”

Savannah stares at me harder. “And what did you find?”

I stare back, but attempting to decipher what she’s thinking is like learning hieroglyphics. I blow out a breath. “A spreadsheet. Aiko didn’t tell you any of this?”

She shakes her head. “I explained to everyone all I could remember. None of it involved a spreadsheet. She must’ve accepted my word.”

“Yeah. We were dead wrong—I was wrong. I thought you’d uncovered Damion’s drug ring and threatened to take it to the police, so Damion silenced you.” She doesn’t react, but I’m compelled to continue. “Or the other half of the argument was that you were helping him acquire the ingredients. You knew all the drop times and where each ingredient was located.” I press my lips together for a moment. “Why did you have that spreadsheet on your laptop? Malcolm and Damion have the same one, and since Malcolm is in the import-export business, it makes sense for him to be under Damion’s control. But … what reason would you have to know all that?”

She goes back to staring over the cliff, the strength draining from her features when she does. I wonder if she’s wishing she could just shape-shift into a mermaid or a selkie and swim away from here forever.

God knows I do.

The wind picks up, and I have to strain to hear her when she starts talking again, her attention remaining out at sea. “I’ve run out of people to trust.”

I follow her stare, folding my arms over my chest. “I know the feeling.”

“You’re a stranger, but I feel closer to you than any of my ‘friends.’ Even Aiko’s different. It’s a good thing, though. If she were the same sister I left, it wouldn’t be so easy to push her away. To keep her out of—”

She cuts herself off.

The breeze wreaks havoc on my hair, but I don’t push it away. I look at her through the tangled strands. Something in her explanation has had my instincts ping twice now. First, in the car, and right now. When it finally comes to me, my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. “You keep saying that you left. Not that you were taken.”

Savannah lowers her chin.

I resist the urge to bite back my secret. Now that she’s exposed herself, I don’t have to maintain the same soft tread of respect. “I hacked into the RBPD database. The police report says that, you said you were held for ransom by three men who were out to blackmail your dad and change one of his votes in the Senate but you don’t remember much else. Traumatic amnesia’s a great explanation, I’ll admit. It’s clear from looking at you that were treated well, fed, had access to showers, and clothed. Your dad was the deciding vote in a multibillion-dollar spending plan that would hike taxes for the middle class if put into effect. These men didn’t like that, according to Senator Merricourt. They had families to feed and were desperate.” I spin to the sea again, unable to look at her for this part. “Yet when I was with you in the crypt, your actions weren’t someone who was treated nicely. The way you hid your body, how you trembled when Luke barged in … the abject fear on your face. I was on your side, then. I wanted to protect you. But then we were given Zeke.”

A sound escapes Savannah’s throat, a mewl of remembrance.

“And you morphed again. Into someone willing to kill. I’m not innocent in that, either, but it doesn’t line up. You change personalities so often that I have no idea where you’ll land anymore. And that mask of yours—the one you’re giving me right now. Where you’re there, but not there.” I step in front of her, blocking her view of endless escape. Forcing her to meet my eyes. “What really happened to you these past fourteen months? Were you held against your will by three men in a row house, or did it have to do with the Societies? Do you know something that could bring them down?”

Savannah bites her lower lip so hard that blood trickles out. She sucks the lip in, tonguing the wound.

“Savannah, please.” I rest my hands on her arms. “If they did something—if they hurt you and made you live this lie, maybe I can help. I’m a Virtue, but I’m not like them. I’m like you. You want a change—I can feel it.”

Savannah’s eyes slide over to mine. And hold. I hold back. “Can I trust you, Ember?”

I nod, keeping my mouth shut. I don’t want to spook her.

She breaks out of my hands, retreating a few steps. Needing to see the horizon without my form blocking it. “You weren’t wrong with your theories, but you also aren’t entirely right. I know about Damion’s drug trafficking, and I helped him perfect it.”

The breeze doesn’t have to turn my cheeks to ice anymore. My blood runs cold. “What?”

She swings her head back to me with a dead-eyed stare. “We were having an affair. I’m in love with him.”

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