Page 33 of Hupotasso
“I watched your royal tour,” he says quietly, “you conducted yourself with dignity and grace. You couldn’t be faulted.”
“Until the end,” I murmur.
“Did you kill Caroline, Angie?”
“Yes.”
I cock my head to the side and study him where he stands, no surprise on his face.
“Are you going to suck my blood and end me now? Is that why Falcon sent you? To do his dirty work?”
“No.”
He sighs, and I stand and walk to him, taking his hands in mine and looking earnestly into his eyes.
“I promise you, Jag, Ipromiseyou, I never meant to kill her. I thought I was knocking her out long enough to be rescued.”
“Who was going to rescue you?”
“That doesn’t matter,” I murmur, turning from him and moving to sit back down in front of my cards on the carpet.
“The reports suggest you loathed her.”
“Of course,” I shrug, “you knew her. Tell me I’m wrong.”
“You’re not wrong,” he smirks, “but she’s from a powerful, well-connected family. Royal deaths are uncommon, especially when the royal is under the protection of another at the time of the ‘accident.’ This is messy.”
I nod and look down at my cards.
“I need to know who gave you that poison, Angie. I’m trying to help you, but you need to start helping yourself.”
“I know,” I whisper.
I shake my head and sigh heavily. I’ve had time to mull this over, to consider what to do about the decision I’d made that had seen me literally jump from the frying pan into the fire.
“It was The Free Men,” I mutter. “Isabel didn’t die in The Games.”
He nods as though this confirmed something he already knew, but he’d wanted to hear it from my lips.
“I didn’t know that before the family visit,” I hurry on. “I slipped her parents a note because I knew membership of The Free Men was hereditary, and I thought they might be able to rescue me. They sent the vial in some food. I don’t know why, idiocy I guess, but I thought it would just knock Caroline out while they spirited me away somehow.”
“Instead they betrayed you,” he murmurs.
“Yes. I believe they did. Has Falcon hired you to get revenge?”
“Hired? I don’t work for your husband. We’re friends, and I consider everything surrounding The Games a personal challenge right now. As to revenge, The Free Men are well out of my scope. They generally only target The Families and high royals. Someone of my lowly stature flies under the radar. Wolf is a different story; he’ll quite happily hunt them down and suck them all dry. His family’s been plagued by them for centuries. I believe that’s why Falcon invited him to stay. He wants his expertise on the subject.”
“But The Free Men killed Caroline, and she wasn’t a high royal. I mean, I know I technically killed her, but really it was them.”
“Mmmm, I think they just took an opportunity that presented itself.”
“Yes,” I sigh. “I think the same thing. They used me, and I was desperate enough and stupid enough to fall for it. If it’s any consolation, I feel terrible. I mean, contrary to what the public believe from The Games, I’ve never actually killed anyone before.”
I don’t add,‘except my brother’because his death weighs heavily on my conscience still. Nothing will take that away. It’s a weight on my soul that I’ve come to wear like a heavy cloak. Caroline’s death is almost like a button in comparison.
But it was still nothing to be proud of.
“I’m shocked I did it, Jag. I’m not a killer, despite what Falcon thinks.”
