Page 68 of Taking Jenny
“Not possible.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Are you telling me I can’t have something I want?”
“Yes.”
His tone darkened. “And why not?”
“Because you killed her.”
Every sound in the room stopped. No more chatter among the councilors. No more laughter. Nothing.
Even Justice seemed to need a moment to collect his thoughts. “How?”
“When you ordered the clan purges during the war. She was one of the first to die. Your soldiers slit the throats of every elder in my clan, per your order.”
He stared at me, and I could not tell if he was angry, regretful, or none of it. Then, slowly, he lifted his glass. “To the Orne elders, whose deaths have gone unremarked—until now. May they find rest on Halla.”
The others drank. I did not, which didn’t go unnoticed by Justice or Mal, the latter of whom looked concerned by my act of rebellion.
“You don’t drink to their rest?” Justice asked coldly.
“How can I?” I said, looking him in the eyes. “They were not permitted to be burned on Halla, and I don’t want to lie to you again.”
Justice’s gaze was razor-sharp now. “Then let’s test your honesty. Why were you asking about me and my family in that bar?”
“The Bateens are the most important family on Orhon, Ruler,” I said, giving him the same answer I had that first day he’d questioned me. “Again, I ask, why wouldn’t I inquire about you?”
“I thought you’d say that.” He tipped his head upward and hollered, “Guard!”
Panic surged. I braced for chains, another cell—true torture this time. The door opened, and several guards marched in. One of them held a small ornate box, which he set in front of me.
I knew that box. I knew that guard—but I couldn’t place his name.
Justice grinned. “Open it.”
I glanced at Mal, his gaze as confused as I felt. I lifted the lid—and froze.
A severed tail. Half-skinned.
My breath caught. “Who?”
“Your friend Summer wouldn’t tell me what you two discussed in the bar,” Justice said calmly. “So, I took his tail. Thought it might jog his memory.”
A gasp startled me in the quiet room. I turned, stunned, and met the eyes of the guard. Thyme. Summer’s ex. Tears streaked down his face. He hadn’t known what was in the box.
My fists clenched against my thighs and my blood steamed. “Will I be getting more boxes with more Summer in them?”
“That would be a waste of an old man,” Justice replied. “I sent him to the fields of Grenevar. Manual labor does wonders for memory.”
“You’re a monster,” I muttered.
Justice ignored me. “See that weepy guard? Summer shared a bed with Thyme. Thought no one would ever find out he told secrets. But someone’s always watching.”
Justice stood and circled behind Thyme, resting his hands on the man’s trembling shoulders, who wasn’t much younger than Mal. “Pretty, isn’t he?”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
Justice leaned in close to Thyme’s ear. “You thought sharing my bed made you special. Made you exempt. But you lied.”
