Page 113 of Fragile Oath

“He can hardly blame me if we’re both attacked, like so many others have been, in his own castle. Obviously, I did everything I could…”

I blinked, stealing another glance at her nearly empty cup of tea.

“You really do think of everything,” I said.

And I hoped like hell it was every bit the lie I meant it to be.

ChapterForty-Eight

DAVIN

“We were wrong,”I said out loud, the words sounding hollow to my ears.

Avani nodded, her eyes still fixed on Fiona’s corpse.

One of the maids found her while cleaning the room, the smell of Fiona’s body drawing her to a locked trunk in the closet. It was her scream we heard. Her trembling hands that had pulled the body out onto the floor while she waited for help.

Fiona’s unblinking eyes stared up at the ceiling. She had been a lot of things: a liar, a seductress, an accomplished Lady and Assemblywoman. But now, she was dead.

Dread flooded my veins. “I have to find Galina.”

“I’ll stay here.” She nodded back toward the hall. “Take the men with you.”

I spun around, nearly colliding with a frozen MacBay. I half expected him to rage at me, to accuse me, to say he told me so. He did none of those things. He didn’t even seem to see me as he took in the body of whoever the hell Fiona had been to him.

“Fi.” He said her name in a single, ragged breath.

Shock and grief were etched plainly across his features. He hadn’t done this, but someone was close enough to him, to us, to Fiona.

We had been so blind, and so very, very stupid.

I sprinted down the corridor with the soldiers behind me, not caring who saw anymore. None of it mattered if she was gone. I didn’t bother with the library, not when the truth was raining down around me like shards of ice in a winter storm, piercing my skin and freezing me from the inside out.

Who else could it be, with the resources and clout and position to head up an entire rebellion? Who had access to family secrets and knew the ins and outs of the political arena like the back of their hand? I had asked that question a thousand times since I found out the Viper was a woman, ignoring the very obvious answer in front of me.

Who had come to my rooms fortuitously right after the Socairans arrived all those months ago, had asked questions in her gentle, open way? Who had tried to befriend Galina and warned me off of Fiona, the only person who might have been able to see the truth?

I wondered if that was why Fiona was dead now, because she had put the pieces together after finding out the Viper was a woman. Or had Gracie just needed a scapegoat?

We had made it so easy for her. Stars, when I asked about MacBay’s alibi, I had been so focused on Fiona that I had missed Gracie all but admitting she had none.

Cursing the size of Lithlinglau with each endless second, I took the stairs two at a time, finally arriving at the second floor of the guest wing. Relief and horror mingled in my gut.

There, at the end of the hall, stood Ewan, along with Malishka. I had found her. But Galina was inside, without any protection, and the dog was nervously shifting on her feet.

“How long has she been upset?” I asked.

“Just for a minute or two, mi’laird,” Ewan responded. “I’m not sure what’s wrong with her.”

“Did you try asking Lady Galina?” I asked, my hand going to the door handle.

It was locked.

“How long have they been in there?” I growled.

Ewan blanched, his eyes darting back and forth between me and the door. “Maybe an hour? I checked the room before she went in, mi’laird. It was safe—”

I turned away from him, panic flooding through my veins as my mind spun. Ofcoursehe thought it was safe. Ofcoursehe hadn’t suspected Gracie. None of us had.

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