The Hunt - Megan Shepherd Page 0,87

off Cora. “The boy Tessela arrested, Dane, revealed it during his interrogation. We scanned the environment and found high traces of carbon. A body. Roshian’s body. And according to Dane, this girl was the only one present at the time of his death.”

Her lips parted, but she couldn’t think of a thing to say to clear her name.

“Take her to an interrogation room,” Arrowal ordered.

The two guards stepped forward. Fian’s eyes—looking for instruction—flashed toward Cassian, but Cassian seemed at a loss too, his face returned to a mask to hide whatever it was he was truly feeling.

“Wait.” Fian stepped in front of one of the guards. “I will interrogate her. This matter is too important to entrust to the guards alone.”

Relief flowed into her heart. Fian would protect her, just as he had before.

Arrowal nodded. “I agree. Which is why I will interrogate her personally. The mind cannot hide the truth for long. We will soon know everything.”

Everything.

If they probed her mind, they’d learn about more than just Roshian’s murder. They’d learn about her abilities and the training sessions with Cassian and the Fifth of Five, and god, even the kiss.

Cassian blocked the door. “No.”

His command was sharp. The guards obeyed by instinct, taking a step back as though he was their commander, not Arrowal. Cora’s heart pounded wildly.

What was he doing?

Arrowal seemed to tower even a few inches higher. “You question me, Warden?”

“You only saw a portion of the truth in Dane’s mind,” Cassian said. “You saw the events that led up to the murder, but not the crime itself. You couldn’t have, because Dane was not present when it happened.”

There was a subtle shift in the air that left Cora baffled. Why was he saying all this?

For a second, Cassian’s eyes shifted to Fian, and Fian gave a slight nod. Cora had no idea what silent message had just transpired between the two of them.

“And how do you know that?” Arrowal countered.

Cassian didn’t immediately answer.

Cora willed herself to keep breathing steadily. Fian’s hand was flexing a few inches from his apparatus belt, almost like he was preparing for something. Was that what the look between them had meant? That Cassian was going to try to fight his way out of this? Enact the Fifth of Five’s secondary plan that he’d told her about, launching a war?

They wouldn’t last ten minutes.

“You are always trying to protect the lesser species,” Arrowal said, a hint of condescension in his voice. “But this girl is no longer a ward in one of your environments. You cannot protect her against her own crimes. Now tell me how you know Dane was not present, if you were not present yourself.”

Cora tossed a look at Cassian, but his face revealed nothing. She tried to probe into his thoughts, but her own mind was too fractured, her thoughts too scattered to concentrate. All she glimpsed was a shadowy image of his quarters again. She was there, her mouth moving, a card in her hand. He was thinking of the lesson where she had taught him to cheat.

“I know,” he said calmly, “because I was present.”

A lie.

Her lips parted. Fian’s hand flexed again, and it all seemed to happen so fast. She pressed deeper into Cassian’s head, and suddenly his head turned toward her, as though he could feel her there. The sensation of his thoughts changed. That brighter, more alive feeling came. Images of her flashed through his head. Her, standing on a beach. Her, looking out her bedroom window. Her, when she had first felt the electricity of their touch. A feeling of love was wrapped around each one, but there was something darker too.

“Why exactly were you present at a murder scene?” Arrowal asked, and for a second the room was silent.

Cassian glanced down at the queen of diamonds on the floor. As though the world had suddenly turned on its side, Cora realized what he was about to do. It didn’t have anything to do with the Fifth of Five or any secondary plans. It was why he’d shown her all the images, surrounded by love.

He was going to sacrifice himself for her.

Words rose up her throat, about to tell him that he was making a terrible mistake. She hadn’t taught him to lie so he could lie about this.

At the same time, Fian took a sharp step right behind her, as though sensing what she was about to do.

“Because it was me,” Cassian said. “I killed Roshian.”

36

Cora

“NO!”

The words rushed up Cora’s throat,