Defy the Sun (Beware the Night #2) - Jessika Fleck Page 0,52

and he knows the Night won’t tolerate it. Even from their Sindaco.” Dorian looks straight into my eyes.

“I don’t plan to expose him,” I say, before he gets too far ahead of my plan.

“What?”

“If he thinks I’m going to expose him, it’s over. No … I’ve got to play along, but my own way. On my own terms.” When I glance down I see my hands are trembling. “Hey.” I take another sip of tea and see I’ve nearly drained half the cup. “How did you try to stop the Settlings anyway?”

“I took a risk,” he says. “Luckily it worked out and I’m still breathing, sitting here with you right now. Unfortunately, as you know, I was too late. The Sindaco changed the schedule without consulting me.”

I lean forward. “But what did you do?”

He looks away but there’s satisfaction, definite pride gracing his expression. “I spiked his drink with a couple drops of the same concentrated moonroot we’d planned to give Nico…” He finds my eyes, sighs. “That feels like a lifetime ago.”

“It really does.” He’s right. I was a different person then. Maybe he was too. And Nico.

“Anyway, the Sindaco passed out right after the ceremony, caused a real scene. My plan was for him to go down before the executions so we’d have to postpone, but it all got mixed up, everything happened so fast.” I only stare, my eyes wide, jaw slack. “Then—”

“There’s more?”

He shrugs. “Then, when everyone was in the Crag waiting on news of the Sindaco’s sudden illness, I broke Nico out, helped him escape.”

I drop my cup, and it clanks several times against the stone floor before settling on its side in a small puddle. So he drugged the Sindaco and then helped Nico escape.

“I … You did a good thing, Dorian.”

“Not enough, I’m afraid … You’re right, V, I should have let them all out. I was scared. Selfish. I was already so concerned about the fallout of releasing Nico that I couldn’t imagine going against the Sindaco any further.”

Dorian scuffs his hair, fidgets irritatedly at the laces on his boots. “Plus, we had a common goal of finding you. And, well, I owed the guy. He very well might’ve been next, and he didn’t deserve to die. Not like that. He can do more good up there.”

Wait. “You owed him?”

Dorian rolls his neck from side to side so it cracks like gravel under boots. He forces his shoulders to soften and his expression is intense, zero Dorian pretense present. Meanwhile, my stomach is roiling from a mixture of moonroot and anxiety over what the hell he’s about to tell me. “The day of the attack…” He pauses for breath, and, I swear, you could hear a pin drop the room is so quiet. “The day of the attack I was one of the first to arrive at the Coliseum. We were to find and save you, but not if it meant jeopardizing the mission. It was mission first, Lunalette next.” I raise my eyebrows. I understand, but it’s not my favorite thing to hear at the moment. “When I arrived, we cleared the Imperi guards and made our way toward the top of the Coliseum. My first view of the arena floor was of Nico hovering over you, an executioner standing by. I didn’t have a clear angle on the executioner—I’d have risked hitting you—but with Nico’s back to me, it was the perfect shot. And I took it.” He shakes his head as I process the words he just let slip from his lips. “You’ve gotta understand, from where I stood, there was no doubt he was standing by as you were about to be killed. And when he put the canvas over your head? That was it.”

“And then?”

“Well, when we couldn’t get to you, we took him prisoner.” He shrugs. “You know how the rest played out.”

“And you eventually set him free. Because you owed him that much.”

He nods. “Yes, I mean, I didn’t really want to,” he plays, then grows somber again. “But aside from owing him, it was our best chance to find and save you. Yet here you are. We should have known you didn’t need saving.”

“Well, I did, you guys were just too late.” I glance away, pick up the kettle, and empty the last of the tea into my cup. Drink half of it down without hesitation. Dorian only stares, eyes wide. “It’s been a long day,” I say, and, without thinking twice, I drink