Page 94 of Lies (Wicked Empire 1)

TWENTY

Amethyst

I lookedat him for a long moment, half of me shocked and annoyed that he’d asked the question, the other half amused and appreciative that he’d cut to the chase.

“As far as I know, only you,” I finally responded.

“I don’t want you dead.” He sounded honest, but I shrugged that off.

“Yeah, right. You got me involved in this shit—”

He shook his head, cutting me off. “No, you got you involved in this shit. Poking your nose where it didn’t belong. Have you been doing that to someone else?”

“I can’t believe you’re blaming me,” I practically screeched.

“I’m not blaming you. Just trying to get information,” he said, sounding far too reasonable.

“Don’t try to placate me,” I muttered.

“Amethyst,” he said, his voice low, but stern.

“And don’t Amethyst me either,” I said.

“Who wants you dead?” he asked again.

“I don’t know,” I responded, sinking into the chair, which was no easy feat, given that it was metal, all sharp edges that seemed designed to make me uncomfortable.

And besides, I didn’t know who wanted to kill me. I had no idea what any of this was.

I just knew that I was tired.

And lost.

I wanted to cry, but I didn’t. Instead, I squeezed my locket, hoping for a little of my mother’s strength.

“Whose picture’s inside there?” he asked.

“My mother’s,” I answered before I could think to stop.

“She’s dead, right?”

“Yeah.”

“How long?”

“I think you’d know that,” I said.

“But I’m asking you,” he countered.

“Since I was five,” I said, grudgingly.

“My mother’s dead too,” he said.

“How long?” I asked, repeating his question, shocked that he had shared that with me. And way too pleased by it.

“She died giving birth to me.”

There was no particular inflection in his voice, no emotion, but I could sense the turmoil behind his words.

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