look at the bastard.
Rhona plonked into the seat opposite. “Got a moment?”
No. I was calling our main importers today to introduce myself and pass on the news of Herc’s death. After that, I had an hour of study and a meeting with the head team.
I placed the importer’s contact file aside. “Of course.”
She frowned at her hands. “I was already on shore when the tower began to shake and tilt. Most of us saw you fall. Sascha Greyson was onshore too. He and the blonde ran for a boat when you screamed.”
She fell silent, and I waited.
Nothing more came. “And?”
“Like sprinted.”
I blinked. “I don’t understand.”
Oh, but I did. Damn it, Sascha.
Rhona fixed me with a serious look. “When the boat came back, he cradled you in his arms like some precious treasure. He wouldn’t stop looking at you. And he respects your cunning.”
Okay. Shit. I could not risk Rhona growing suspicious. “I thought he was close by at the time. You think he was in on what happened?”
Her brows climbed. “No. Well, we shouldn’t discount that risk, but no. I think the pack leader wants you. Like, is completely besotted with you. I don’t know how I didn’t see it before. He’s obsessed.”
I blanched. Fuck. “You’re kidding me?”
She kicked her boots up on the desk. “Think about it. We always thought he was gunning for you because you infiltrated The Dens and he couldn’t act outside of the game to get back at you. What if that wasn’t the case?”
“I—”
“We could use this against him, Andie.”
Exhaling quietly, I shook my head. “I don’t know how we’d go about that.”
“Tie you up as a sacrifice.”
I snorted.
“Just a fake one, obviously. You could wear a white dress that gapes at the front. And you’d need to scream. It’ll be like King Kong, minus the gorilla and plus a werewolf.”
Laughing to cover my pounding heart, I leaned forward. She was far too close to the truth. If she wanted to use me as a weapon, then Rhona would expect me to bring this to the head team’s attention.
The theory would then spread to the entire tribe. That was a lot of scrutiny on an area that I couldn’t afford questions.
I had to contain this.
Rhona pursed her lips. “You don’t think it’s a good idea?”
More lies. “We can use it. I think there could be something to your theory. My worry is that the tribe could easily misunderstand the matter. I’ve just become head steward, and that information could make them view me in a negative light.”
“Right. I didn’t think about that. You think we only tell the head team?”
“I think that we keep it between us for now. Let’s brainstorm a way to use me to gaping-white-dress effect and take our plan to the head team then.”
“We only have two grids right now. Shouldn’t we throw everything we have at the Luthers?”
“Believe me, I intend to. What do you think they’ll choose today?”
“They beat us in Sandstone last time, so that’s my guess. Don’t see why they wouldn’t.”
Unless we revolutionised our strategy in Sandstone, the grid would belong to the Luthers in a week, so if I were Sascha, Iron would be my pick.
Win the harder grid, finish on the easier battlefield.
Plus, Iron was the Ni Tiaki’s main source of income. Without that money, collecting gear for Water would be nearly impossible. We were already down 25 percent with the loss of Timber a while back.
Stretching, I yawned. “I’m going with Iron.”
“Read any of the journals yet?” she asked.
“Just started last night. More of Mum being in love with Murphy. Can’t say I’m enjoying it.”
Once, I’d raced to devour Mum’s journals. Now, reading them was another chore—and one that made me feel so horrible. But I couldn’t not read the journals either. Aside from Pascal, they were my only clue to the past.
Rhona closed her eyes. “I’m so angry at them. Mum and Dad.”
She’d known her real parents, and perhaps that made their betrayal harder to stomach. Herc and Savannah never let her down in life—not until the end. My mother regularly let me down in life and this last lie was just the straw on the camel’s back. “You have every right to be angry. You were old enough to hear the truth.”
“Do you think after Mum’s death, Dad didn’t want to hurt me more or something?”
“I believe that was a factor. Maybe he didn’t know how to tell us too. Whether that had to do with his fear of the fallout