"Yes." Though not of the killings. Not at first.
She nodded. "I smelled you in my hair salon, you know."
"Is that why you got rid of the wig?" Surprise flitted across her face, and he smiled coldly. "I fished it out of the river, Betise. Savannah has it."
"You lie."
"It doesn't matter if he's lying." Iyona stepped out of the shadows, a rifle held steadily in her hands. A rifle that was aimed straight at René. "The time of promising has come."
"I made no promises to Betise. I never will."
"You will if you want your brother to live to his time of promising."
His gaze flicked to hers. Where Betise's gaze was crazy, Iyona's was hard. Intent.
"This will gain you nothing."
"You're a Sinclair, and the Sinclairs owe me."
"My pack had nothing to do with what happened to you."
"You're all Sinclairs. I don't care which pack pays me what I am owed."
"And what the hell are you owed, Iyona?"
"A name. A child. A comfortable lifestyle."
The woman might not look mad, but she was every bit as insane as her daughter. "Neither René nor I can give you a child. That's taken care of every moon dance."
Betise snorted. "You taking bets on that fact?"
He stared at her, a sick sensation in his gut. "What are you saying?"
Betise's smile was contemptuous. "That I tampered with one box of injections. Twenty, in all, I think. The good doctor keeps meticulous records, and I knew René was being done early. But if I'd known you were coming back, I would have tampered with yours, as well."
Relief slithered through him. At least he didn't have to worry about Neva being pregnant. They might have performed the moon ceremony and, for all intents and purposes, be married, but right now, they did not need a child. Not when they were still very much strangers, and she was still wary of both him and her feelings.
"The surgery is locked. How could you possibly get in?"
Betise arched an eyebrow. "Through the tunnels, of course." She glanced at René, a cold smile on her lips. "You really should work on your shield, you know. Your mind is such an easy read when you're dancing."
René didn't even bother opening his eyes as he said, "I will never give you a child."
"My dear boy, you probably already have," Iyona commented dryly. "And not only Betise, but me and your other half dozen partners as well."
"I wouldn't bet on it." René's voice was cold. Harsh. "Martin is not the fool you think him to be. He saw the box had been tampered with and got rid of them."
Betise stared at him. "You're lying."
René opened his eyes and looked at her. His dark gaze was as hard as the rocks behind him. "Am I?"
Betise studied them both for a second, her eyes gleaming moon bright in the night. "Get up, both of you."
If they were ever going to escape, it had to be now, when the two women were overly confident and before the ceremony was performed. While he could not get caught by the promising ritual, René could. And he knew René would say the words and link himself forever with a bitch like Iyona, if it meant saving Duncan's life. He glanced at his brother's set face, eyebrow raised in question, and saw the barest nod of agreement. He pushed back against the wall and struggled to his feet. "The promising ritual won't work, Betise."
"If you don't say the right words, René is a dead man."
"Better a dead man than being bound to dead-smelling flesh," René commented as he struggled upright.