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He shook his head, coht in front of me "Nah But I kinda suspected it"

"But…he told me it wasn’t him"

"Actually, I said I didn’t kill Nathan"

I looked up to the new voice in the room "David!"

"Whoa, that’s happiness to seehis ar e here?"

"Got a call--heardand looked at the two boys "Who told you?"

"Mike," they both said, and laughed

"When did you get here?"

He looked at his watch "’Bout twentyfrouys okay? Ior--"

"No," David said "We’re all good"

"Yeah, death has a funny way of putting things into perspective," Jason added

"So, are you back?" I hugged David’s ar up at him "I mean, now Jason’s here, won’t they try to say the prophecy child can be with hi of ed

"It doesn’t e that"

"I don’t think the people will care I think you should just coet us"

David groaned and walked away

"David, please Coht us--he won’t win"

"And what makes you so sure, Ara?" David spun around fro the"You don’t knohat he’s capable of, and you don’t even knohat you’re capable of Mike fillsto do with you, and I know you can’t use that static light as well as you’d like to think We can’t put all our cards in that basket"

"But we’re putting the them all there when you’re never even here to create a child, we put them there e don’t even know if she can be conceived"

David rubbed the bridge of his nose "Ara, just stop it"

"No! I won’t I’m tired of this I…I have all these questions, David, and I never ask I never question what you do, because I trust you But I don’t think I should anymore Either you’re incredibly dumb or you’re incredibly na&iu tells you or…" I paused "Or you’re keeping things frorabbed s from you--would you leave it alone? Would you back down and letto each of h "Look, I can’t do this anymore, either, Ara I don’t want to be away from you I don’t want to lie to you But I have to"

"Why?"

"Because you won’t like the truth"

"What if I pro with it--even if it’s bad?"

He shook his head then looked over at Jason "There are things…"

I stood very still, like a doe that spotted a hunter, waiting for hihed and sat on the bed, his head in his hands "Things that we’ve discovered about certain people here, Ara We may have more than one traitor in our ot to do with anything?"

He half looked up at ht now"

"Because of the traitors?"

"Because they et information I have"

"Well, won’t they do that anyway?"

"Not while they believe you to be this na&iuirl If I shared even half e with you, you wouldn’t be the sa," he said, looking back down at the ground "All I can tell you right now is that I went through Arthur’s room at Elysium I found notes on the prophecy Turns out he knew about it long before the vae I was ordered to kill a Lilithian upon my entrance to the council, and even I wasn’t told about this prophecy"

"So, Arthur knew about this child--even before he knew a Lilithian had been found?"

"I suspect so But his notes on the deciphering of the prophecy differed And it makes sense--all of it There is no evidence that this child will kill Drake, Ara I don’t knohere Morgaine got that information, but--"

"Froot it straight from him"

"What makes you think that?"

"Arthur told aine about the prophecy That’s whatfor parchments and scrolls"

David stood up, his eyes narrowed He walked slowly toward me but stopped and turned to look at Jason "What do you know, brother? You knowon What is it?"

Jasonfroaine what he wanted her to know," I cut in "To serve his own greater purpose These scrolls you all get your infored by Drake to look like prophecy scrolls"

"She’s right," Jason said "There was no signature on those scrolls Every other prophecy held Vampirie’s seal You know that"

David nodded "But I never questioned it"

"Why?" I asked

David’s lip turned sharply on the corner "All this began because you were kidnapped by Drake I trusted Morgaine--she illing to helpshe said"

"And now the dust has settled," Jason said, "it see into sharper focus"

David frowned then, and as the same idea he obviously had sunk in to my head, my mouth dropped "Is she the traitor?"

His hand came slowly up to his mouth "It’s possible"

I took a few steps back and let out a long, quiet breath, al it come past my lips in the colour of disbelief

"Look, we don’t know for sure," David said "Iyou on the throne, for saving you? All of it"

"Because, like you said, maybe this was never about the child Maybe all this--" I motioned around the room "Is for some other reason"

"Yeah, but, what?" Jason said

"I don’t know But we need to flush it out"

"How?" I said