Page 23 of Zachary

I open the door and step into the hallway. “Ronan?”

“I’m here!” he calls, and a second later, appears from the front of the house. “Sorry, I didn’t know if I should wait in the hallway or if that wasn’t—” He stops, visibly pulling himself together. “Good morning.” His smile is tentative—a test of our truce.

I try to make myself smile back, but my face won’t respond, and the hopeful light in his eyes begins to fade.No!I take a quick step forward. “Good morning. Uh… do you have a moment to talk? There’s something you s-should know.”

His entire body goes still. “Is my brother…?”

“It’s nothing like that,” I race to assure him. “I’m sure your brother’s fine. This is… It’s complicated. And kind of a long story.”

He takes a step back. “Perhaps we should sit. Please come this way.”

I follow him into the living room. It’s just as plainly furnished as it was when we assigned the house to him—if he brought anypersonal things with him, they’re in another room. Choosing an armchair, I sit, put my hands on my knees, and look at him.

Then search vainly for the words to begin.

He waits, and with every passing second, his face closes more and more. I’m losing ground—losing any rapport we might have begun to build. It wasn’t much, just a tentative thread, but if I don’t speak, it’s going to snap.

“I want you to know that I knew nothing about this until last night,” I blurt. “I swear it. I’ll swear it on anything you want me to. I would never have done this, not to you or anyone. And I didn’t know anything about it when I came here yesterday. I meant my apology, I still mean it, and I’d like for us to have a better working… association.” I was going to say “relationship,” but for some reason, it felt wrong.

His face has paled somewhat, but he only nods.

“Last night at dinner, my grandmother lambasted me for what I said to you on Saturday. I…” It seems pointless to explain my thought process at the time, so I skip to, “I demanded to know how she’d found out, and it eventually came out that she’s had electronic surveillance in the cave since the Wi-Fi booster was installed.”

His mouth drops open, but I don’t stop. “This is a direct violation of the security agreement in place for the project. Garrett and Asher are removing all the devices as I speak and will sweep to ensure there aren’t any others.” I suck in a deep breath. “We debated whether to tell you, but given the violation of your right to privacy, we decided we couldn’t keep it from you.” I hesitate. “Right now, the only people who know about this are my family. My grandmother, who was solely responsible. My mother, my uncles and aunts. Asher, Micah, Garrett, Cam. And me. I’m not sure what Grandmother might have observed or listened to from the few days that were recorded, but the only thing everyone else knows is what I said toyou on Saturday.Nobody,” I give the word heavy emphasis, “will ever speak of it. They’re all ashamed of my behavior.”

He gives his head a quick little shake, almost an automatic movement. “You apologized. We put it behind us.”

His words lapse into silence. I don’t know what to say. There’s nothing Icansay. The next move is his.

“Garrett and Asher are removing all the devices?” he asks finally.

“Yes,” I assure him, then decide to go for broke. “Garrett debated leaving them in place and making them part of the official security procedure, but decided the way they were set up posed a greater risk than anything else.”

Ronan’s gaze, which had drifted toward the carpet minutes ago, rises to meet mine. “Not to mention that making it part of the official security procedure would mean advising the security representatives from the DEA and CSG of its existence.”

My mouth goes dry. “Yes.”

He watches me, his face a mask so impenetrable, it could be a demon’s. “What happens if I report this to the DEA’s security representative—my brother?”

Garrett didn’t mention that little tidbit, but it makes sense, given what I know about Steffen Draco. “Officially, this is a violation of the agreement. We can prove that Grandmother acted alone and without the knowledge or support of the village council or anyone on the project team. Grandmother will certainly be asked to resign from the council and removed from any connection to the project. She may face criminal charges, but I don’t believe those would stick.” I clear my throat. “It’s also possible that Garrett would be removed as coordinator and that control of the project would be given to a team made up of government officials from outside the village. I’m not certain what the long-term ramifications are regarding the planned museum and tourism.”

He nods slowly. “You said ‘officially.’ What happens unofficially?”

I didn’t think he’d catch that.

“My grandmother… she’s an old demon, and she’s amassed a lot of influence over the years. Our family already had a lot before she married my grandfather, and together, they pretty much… built an empire. She’s… I know she’s not an easy person to know. Not even for us, sometimes. But she does do a lot of good for the community. For her, duty to her people is everything. Sometimes she gets so caught up in that, she forgets that people are also individuals, not just a faceless entity. This would do a lot of damage to her reputation, and that could have ripple effects.” I leave it there. We don’t know exactly what would happen. Speculation isn’t going to help.

He nods again, clearly thinking.

Impulsively, I lean forward. “Ronan, you have every right to report this to Steffen. To the DEA. Your privacy was invaded, and the agreement was breached. I’m not here to convince you to do otherwise. We—Garrett and I—thought you had the right to know what happened. And… if you do decide to report this, I ask if you would please give me ten minutes so Garrett can advise the security team first. But if you prefer, you can take my phone now and hold on to it while you call your brother.” I make eye contact again. “Whatever happens, I won’t blame you. Nobody will.”

There’s another heavy silence.

“I’ve never done anything in that cave or the vault except the work I was sent here to do,” he says at last. “I’ve never said anything I’m ashamed of. I will not tolerate being surveilled without my knowledge and consent, not ever again. If Garrett will assure me that all devices have been removed, and that neither Damaris nor any agents of hers will have access to thecave at any time for the duration of my task here, then I see no reason for a report to be made.”

I swear, for a second it feels like my heart stops beating in my chest. “She won’t,” I swear. “Garrett won’t let her near the place, and he’ll oversee any future visitors himself. They’ll all be screened by him.” And probably his cousin Alistair and Gideon, though I doubt Garrett will tell them why he wants their help. “You can talk to him about it, but there’s no way any of us will let Grandmother jeopardize this for us again.”

My phone rings before he can reply. “That’s probably Garrett.”

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