my justice,” Leo says, and folds into a low bow before leaving.
“I thank you for coming to see me,” I tell Justice Méndez. “I know your time is precious.”
He gives a small, weary smile, and takes my bare hand in his. He makes short noises of frustration at the long cut across my palm. My wound is healing quickly, but not as quickly as he seems to need.
“Is something wrong?” I ask carefully.
His thumb drags gently across the scabs on my knuckles. I bite back the revulsion that nearly makes me pull away. This feels like a trap, a snake gliding around my body.
“On the contrary. I have found a new Ventári for the Hand of Moria.”
“Where?” A twinge of pain comes alive over my temples. I think of Esteban. I think of the Whispers. I hold my breath to stop myself from shouting.
“Right here in the capital. I will be needing your alman stone for him to read.”
I feel sick. There are almost no Moria left in the capital. They must have used the weapon. How else could they have found him?
I yank my hand away, unable to stop myself. My heart races as Méndez looks at me, startled.
“Renata?” He grips me by my shoulders. I can hardly stand. He pulls me against his chest. He smells of incense and sugar. The scents I thought of as home for so long. I am so tired I can hardly push him away. The way he brushes my hair back, like I’m a little girl once again, makes my insides churn. I remind myself that he is not my father and never was. He was the monster who kept me in a birdcage. But when he repeats my name, with more worry than anyone has shown for me, with the exception of Dez, I can’t speak.
“I’m well,” I manage. “It’s nothing.”
He sits back down. I take off the necklace and hand it over, wondering if he realizes that only I can read the stone. The new Ventári can only verify what I see. He exchanges it for a new one. This one is smaller, the size of a marble, and rests at my collarbone. I feel the thrum of its magic, like it’s calling to my own. “I need you to be more vigilant.”
“Yes, Uncle. Can I ask? Has something happened?”
He readies the supplies to dress my wound. “There has been a robbery of sorts. Some of my alman stones have gone missing.”
“From the vault?”
Méndez shakes his head once, his gray eyes skimming over my features. At least my surprise is genuine. “Other places around the palace. Two of them are gone.”
Justice Méndez is spying on Prince Castian! The realization makes me dizzy. I think of Castian in Esmeraldas. No one can know I was here. Did he mean anyone or Méndez specifically? Castian has the connection to Lady Nuria. Castian has the weapon. Could they be rivals for the king’s approval?
“Renata?” Méndez’s voice booms in my ear.
I haven’t been paying attention. I suck in a breath. “I’m sorry. Forgive me, my justice.”
“I thought you were going to be honest with me, Renata.” Méndez twists off the cap of the tincture and drops the brown liquid over my wound. I know it stings but I can’t register it anymore. “If something is wrong, I must know it.”
“Sometimes my memories surge back. I can’t control them all the time and it becomes painful.”
His gray eyes scan my face. He brushes a lock of black hair away from my eyes. “I think about the night you were taken quite often.”
As do I, I say to myself. The image of a sweet young Dez pulling me to safety is both a balm and a knife to my heart. I don’t want to talk about this anymore.
“I’m better now,” I say, and offer a smile that seems to convince him.
“I have brought you something.” He fishes out a small blue velvet pouch from his satchel and unfolds it.
I do not want gifts from Méndez. This is how it’ll start, and then I’ll be right back where I was all those years ago. But the old me would not have refused, so I don’t.
The red-jeweled pendant is the official seal of the justice, similar to the one Leo wears. Méndez pins it to the fabric of my dress over my heart.
I take a long, trembling breath. “You honor me, my justice.”
He lifts my chin with his finger. His sincerity burns me. “You are more valuable than