Page 107 of Magic Forsaken

He regarded me steadily. “If it’s the right thing to do, then I will support you.”

His trust in me was both terrifying and humbling. And I was going to have to break it.

“You won’t,” I said regretfully. “But it’s still the right thing to do. And also, in a few minutes, we will likely be attacked.”

His eyes went sharp and hot, glimmering with the first flickers of power. “What do you need from me?”

It was a big ask. One he had no reason to grant. “I need a few minutes to talk to the rest of the delegates.”

“Then let’s go.” He started back into the building. “Most of them will be leaving town after the banquet, so now is your only chance.”

I grabbed his arm, felt his muscles flex beneath my fingertips. “What do you mean, leaving? Aren’t you signing at ten tomorrow morning?”

“No.” He shot me an uncomfortable look that was somehow still laden with grim satisfaction. “We signed already. Right before the banquet.”

So I was already too late. My hand dropped, and my heart fell along with it, shattering to pieces on the sidewalk at my feet.

But he kept talking, oblivious to the fact that he’d just taken a sledgehammer to my fragile hopes.

“The plan was kept a secret until the last minute so it couldn’t be leaked. Since we didn’t know who the mole was, I couldn’t take the chance, especially after Heather’s disappearance. Even Angelica didn’t know.”

I should have known better than to assume he was moving forward blindly. Should have expected he would be devious enough to plan this without letting anyone else find out.

It was too late now for me. For Ari, for Logan, and for Kes. I’d lost my chance to explain. To tell him why I’d left him on the rooftop. To beg them all not to do this.

From this moment on, I would be a fugitive and yet… I was still going to act. Because no one in there knew what was coming, and I did.

Callum had been right about me after all—I was a protector at heart. And I was determined to keep my promises. My promise to Kira to keep him safe. My promise to Talia to find out what had happened to her daughter. And my promise to Callum, to help him protect those who couldn’t protect themselves. Even if those protections never applied to me, I was damn well going to make sure they protected as many people as possible.

Even if it meant saving my enemies from the ones who should have had my back.

Even if the ones I chose to save might well turn on me before the evening was over.

TWENTY-THREE

I didn’t waitfor Callum. Didn’t tell him what I was going to do. Just burst back through the doors and into the foyer, where Angelica was standing at the foot of the stairs with her arms crossed and a sour expression twisting her lips. And for good reason. Between my desertion and Callum’s deception, she was probably feeling utterly betrayed.

I didn’t blame her. At least, I didn’t blame her now that I knew she wasn’t our mole.

“Raine, where have you been, and what on earth…” Her gaze turned shocked as she took in my appearance.

I probably looked deranged, with my hair down and wind-blown, my glittering dress wrinkled and stained, and my laced up boots beneath, but Angelica’s disapproval was the least of my worries.

“We need to get as many people as possible out of this building, now.”

She looked at me, then back at Callum. He nodded.

“But don’t be obvious,” I amended. “Use multiple exits. Even try the roof. The attack may come from more than one direction.”

I watched as the buttoned up assistant went from coolly capable to ice-cold predator in the space of a single breath. Her hair went up in a twist to be secured by something silver and stabby, and her dress was promptly ripped up the side with very little apparent effort.

“And what are we telling them?”

“Security threat,” Callum said briefly. “I’m handling it, but they should see to their own safety.”

With one last look over her shoulder, she slipped into the banquet hall, leaving me facing Callum.

“Now are you going to tell me what exactly I just assured Angelica I will be handling?” He regarded me impassively, almost patiently.

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