Page 23 of Crown of Lies

“Of course it did,” I say bitterly.

“The real challenge came in figuring out how to actually spy on you. It’s not like we were friends, and The Saint knew this.”

“He told us to ‘get creative,’” Killian puts in, twisting the last words.

“Turns out we didn’t need to get as creative as we’d originally thought we would.” Nico rests his elbows on his thighs, steepling his fingers. “When attacks started happening to both our gangs, it gave us the in we needed.”

Atlas grunts, leaning back against the wall. “Form an alliance, get close, start reporting to The Saint, and eventually crush the opposition—you.”

“We kept our people safer in the process too,” Nico adds.

They say it like it’s so simple, and I guess for them, it was. I was a threat that needed to be culled, and then another one came along just in the nick of time to push us together.

Two birds, one stone.

As I process everything they’re telling me, it hits me in a rush how severe my position on the outside has always been. It’s not just that I was the wife that came into an established friend group—it’s that I was never inside it to begin with.

Sadness creeps in at the edges of my heart, threatening to send my mood—and my already non-existent trust—crashing through the floor.

Keep it together,I tell myself.None of that matters anymore. You’ve always fought best when the odds are stacked against you.

“So with all these big plans of yours, did you ever learn from The Saint why he wanted you to spy on me?” I press, focusing back in on the problem at hand. “Is he someone I know? Someone with a grudge against Enigma?”

Nico shrugs. “Not to my knowledge. Although he wanted us to report any general information we picked up about you back to him, his primary interest was a symbol.”

My brows shoot up. That’s not the answer I was expecting.

“What do you mean?”

“He never explained. Once the intermediary connected us, he communicated through encrypted messages, and he sent us a copy of the symbol he wanted us to look for.”

“What the fuck?” I scrub at my temples. “And he never explained what it was supposed to mean? What does it even look like?”

“He never told us its meaning, just stressed that it was important,” Nico says. He glances over. “Killian?—”

But the massive, silent man is already standing. He disappears for a moment, leaving me with Nico and Atlas in awkward, avoidant silence. When he comes back, he’s got a piece of paper and a pencil.

Settling back on the couch, he leans over the coffee table and begins sketching quickly on the paper. Curiosity tugs at me, in spite of myself. When Killian is done sketching, I look over his shoulder.

A frown pulls at my lips.

The image he drew is a series of interconnected circles, looping around each other. In the center is something that looks like a stylized blade, or a dagger.

It’s an interesting design, I’ll admit that—but I’ve never seen it before in my life.

I glance up and realize that all three men have their eyes on me, clearly searching for any sign that I recognize the symbol Killian just drew.

Hate to burst your bubble, but…

I shake my head. “I have no idea what I’m looking at.”

Disappointment ripples around the room. Atlas’s face twists into a frown, and Nico looks troubled. Killian is the only one who remains entirely expressionless, but I don’t need an expression to tell that he’s annoyed by this development—or lack thereof.

“Fuck,” Nico growls. “So we’re still at square fucking one.”

Irritation prickles under my skin. The men might be pissed that they haven’t been able to figure out why The Saint thinks I’m valuable, but at least they’re not the ones who have this weird mystery surrounding them. I feel unsettled and anchorless, as if there’s a gaping hole in my life that I never knew was there.

“Well, even if none of us know what the symbol means, there’s someone who clearly does,” I say, speaking slowly as I reason it out. “The Saint. If we can figure out who the fuck he is, maybe he’ll lead us to answers about the symbol and what makes me valuable.” I scowl. “Although I’m still skeptical as hell about that. If there was something valuable about me, I’d know it.”

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