"Why? What have you heard?"
"Interesting way of not answering the question, Ris." He studied me for a moment, then added, "I talked to several people who were near the warehouse at the time of his murder. By their accounts, it appeared that Lucian had been blown up – something later refuted by the Directorate. They said the cause was accidental."
If the Directorate were saying that, it could only mean Uncle Rhoan was cleaning up my mess and protecting my ass. They knew, as much as I did, that it had been no accident.
But if Jak had been talking to people who'd been near the warehouse at the time of Lucian's death, it was more than possible he knew my part in it. Still, I returned his gaze steadily. "And you don't believe the Directorate's statement?"
He snorted. "I saw the photographer, remember? From what the witnesses said, the manner in which Lucian died was almost identical."
The photographer had been one of the many leads Lucian had erased before we'd had the chance to talk to him. I'd forgotten Jak had been there when I'd discovered the body. "Whoever killed Lucian didn't kill the photographer."
"Never suggested they did." He quirked an eyebrow. "And that wasn't actually a question I asked."
Perhaps not out loud, but it was nevertheless implied. And I didn't have to be psychic – although, technically, given my somewhat unreliable clairvoyant abilities, I was – to predict his next question.
"It does, however, force me to ask – did you kill him?"
I didn't pull my gaze away, didn't react, even if my insides were churning so badly it felt like I was about to throw up. "What do you think?"
"I think it's possible, and I'd like to know why."
I considered my options, weighing honesty – and what that might mean – against the knowledge that I still needed his help. Probably more so now than ever before thanks to the fact that I'd pushed Azriel away.
And yet, it was no more right to draw Jak deeper into this whole mess than it was to involve Ilianna or Tao.
"It's possible," I said eventually, "that Lucian died the way he did simply because that's the exact same way he killed my mother."
Jak blinked. "Lucian killed your mother? Why the hell were you fucking him, then?"