the times Lynx helped me. Protected me.
“But she was in there before me… how?”
“She was caught on another mission, but through a guard, I was able to stay in contact. I got a message to Ling to watch over you.” He nodded down to the girl I knew as Lynx. Of course, she wouldn’t use her real name in there. His gaze flicked to the corner. “I acquired alliances I never thought I’d find.”
“Enemy of your enemy hardly makes us allies,” Warwick muttered.
“It does in this world.” Andris moved away from Ling, dropping the file on his desk.
I jerked to face Warwick.
“You knew who I was the whole time?”
“Not the whole time, but soon after.” He smirked, his cerulean eyes focusing on me.
I felt tricked. Stupid. As if I was the only one not let in on a joke.
“My plan to get Ling and you out had to be bumped up when your identity was discovered and you went into the Games.” Andris scanned some papers. “We blew up Halálház, freed you, helped Warwick bomb Lord Killian’s to help you escape… and now I’m guessing from HDF as well.”
“I had some left over.” Warwick shrugged.
I barked a derisive laugh before downing the rest of the herb liquor. My head spun like a carousel with all the revelations.
“This isn’t enough to go on.” Andris shut the folder, looking over at Ling. She was so pretty, tiny and delicate, but something told me not to underestimate her.
Ling shook her head. “I’ll keep trying, but we are fighting against an exceptionally complicated magic firewall.”
“Magic firewall?” I repeated.
“Metaphorically.” Andris leaned back on his heels, staring at her with pride. “Ling is what you call a hacker.”
“Hacker? What the hell is that?”
“Before you were born, our entire world was run on computers. All information could be found online. Money was handled and transferred digitally, as well. But when the wall fell, magic destroyed technology as we knew it. The King in the Unified Nations has established a new internet that’s even more powerful. But here, only the elite can even afford a computer. The problem is this new system is even harder to break into. It’s protected by magic. Ling is a Kitsune, a fox-shifter who can deceive and trick magic spells. Sneak in and out of places, virtual or real. Her father was one of the top hackers in her homeland, and he taught her everything. She helped break down the spells guarding Halálház so you all could escape. She is the best out there.”
Ling kept her expression even, not responding to his praise.
“A Kitsune who calls herself Lynx?” I lifted an eyebrow.
“Ling-ks.” Andris grinned. “The KS stands for Kitsune.”
“My brain hurts.” A laugh barked up my throat. So many puzzle pieces to try to put together.
“I will try another backdoor in.” Ling leaned in, kissing Andris again. She nodded at me before turning for the door. I watched the woman who took a whipping from me. Now I understood why she helped me, protected me. Why she was so nice to me.
Because she was asked to.
The moment her footsteps retreated down the stairs, Warwick strode to the desk.
“Can we get to why we’re here since she’s all caught up?” Warwick tossed down the folded sheets of paper.
“What the hell?” I grappled inside my coat, where I had kept the documents, finding the inside pocket empty. “How did you do that?”
He curved his face, his mouth only a few inches from mine. “You’re not the only one who can move without being seen.”
Air caught in my throat at his proximity. I couldn’t seem to acclimate to him. To not respond to the carnal intensity he carried.
Andris’s finger pinched the papers and picked them up, his pupils tracking over the documents, the color draining from his face. “Where did you get this?” His gaze darted to Warwick, then me. “How did you come by this? Is this real?”
“It’s real.” Warwick nodded at me. “Ask her.”
“Where did you get it?” Agitation rose in his voice.
“I-I…” I swallowed. “I stole it from Istvan. It was in his safe.”
“And he knows you have it?” Andris lowered the papers to look at me fully.
“Yes.”
Andris whispered, almost to himself, before his hand hit the desk. “Szar.” Shit. He hissed through his teeth. “He found it... what your farther and I were afraid of.”
“What do you mean?”
“This document was one of the things Markos had your father and me searching for. It was during those trips we were trying to find