Page 61 of Sinful Palace

“Logan, that’s not just weird,” I said, reaching one hand out to touch his arm. “It’s really fucked up.”

He shrugged. “I guess,” he muttered. “But don’t worry, I’m fine. I don’t need to sit around talking about it with some kind of therapist.”

I hesitated and swallowed nervously. “Okay, but if you ever decide you want to talk about it with someone, I—”

He held up a palm to cut me off. “You’re here. I know.”

“Yeah. I’m here.” I gave him a faint encouraging smile and drew my hand back.

He looked down at the floor. “Anyway, that’s messed up and all, but it isn’t helpful to us in figuring out whether he’s Q or not, is it?”

“I guess not,” I said softly. “Can you think of anything else he’s said or done that could give him away?”

“No. He acts shady sometimes, but there’s nothing I can really put my finger on, apart from the times he’s obviously lied to my face, and the way he’s started spying on us. Although I suppose that doesn’t prove he’s Q. It just proves he’s a loyal Order member, like you said earlier.”

“Yeah.” I sighed and sat down next to him, shoulders slumping.

After a moment of glum silence, he cocked his head to the side. “Wait… I actually just thought of something else he lied about. It might not be relevant to anything, but it was weird as hell.”

“What is it?”

“A few weeks before you came to Thorne House, I went to talk to him. Before I got to his study, I ran into a pregnant woman in the hall outside. She was acting a bit weird, so I asked her if I could help. She told me she was a new maid and hurried away. That obviously wasn’t true, because I never saw her again.”

“What does that have to do with your dad?”

“When I went to see him after running into her, I asked him about her out of curiosity. He acted like he had no idea what I was talking about, but I’m pretty sure he was lying. When he opened the door, it seemed like he was actually expecting her. Not me. I didn’t think much of it at the time, because I was so caught up with other shit, but the whole thing was definitely strange.”

“Yeah, sounds like it.” I nodded slowly. Then I cocked my head to one side. “Hold on… did you say she was pregnant?”

“Yup. About to pop.”

My heart began to pound, and my mouth dried up. Something was coming back to me; an old fractured memory. “Oh my god.”

“What?”

I jumped up. “Do you remember back in May, when you chased me through the White House tunnels in that skull mask?”

Logan’s lips twitched in a brief smirk. “Yes.”

“I got lost after you let me go, and I wound up finding the Order Hall purely by accident.”

He raised his brows. “Really?”

“Yes. I got inside using the tunnel keycard I stole from my dad. I didn’t realize it at the time, but obviously the card worked in the door because he’s a member.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Anyway, I realized right away that I wasn’t supposed to be in there, but I needed to clean myself up because my arm was bleeding from when I tripped in the tunnels. I couldn’t ask where the bathrooms were, though.”

“Because that would’ve given you away as an intruder,” Logan interjected, nodding slowly.

“Exactly. So I started wandering around to look for them, and I went into one of the smaller halls. I wouldn’t have a clue which one it was now.” I frowned and shook my head slightly. “Anyway, I wound up trying a bunch of doors. I found one that was obviously supposed to be locked, but someone must’ve screwed up and left it open.”

“What happened?”

“Some woman came over and told me to leave when she saw me hanging out there. She seemed really pissed that I was sneaking around and found the room, but I think she confused me with someone else, so she didn’t know I wasn’t actually a member.”

“That was lucky.”

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