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"Wolf"

He did not turn to her Did not flinch or sigh or respond He was a statue He was a pawn

The thaue made a sad sound "No matter" Then, after a silence in which Scarlet felt the stairs crua Kesley was to inforer concerned with identifying Selene"

Wolf’s fingers twitched

"Nevertheless, it has becoiven up all her secrets Perhaps we can find another use for the htly "If she’d had any additional information, she would have told me I am sure her trust was co the base of the headless statue to keep froround

"I’e "Don’t be alarnition"

"Who’s Beta Wynn?" said Scarlet "What was his task in Toulouse?" Her voice eak, filled with disbelief as she teetered on the stairs She struggled to believe this was all a nightmare Soon she would wake up on the train, in Wolf’s arms, and this would all happen very differently But she did not wake up, and the thau her with dark, sympathetic eyes

"Beta Wynn’s task was to kill your father in a manner that would not raise suspicions," he said, with noher the time of day "I did offer your father a chance If he had found so useful on Madame Benoit’s property, I think I truly would have considered letting him live, perhaps kept hiave him, so I was forced to have him silenced He knew too much about us, you see, and he had served his usefulness I’m afraid we have little tolerance for useless Earthens"

He grinned, the look twisting Scarlet’s gut--not because it was a cruel smile, but because it was a kind one "You appear to be ill, Mademoiselle Perhaps you will need sorandmother Rafe, Troya, won’t you see the lady to her prepared roo but blurs in Scarlet’s consciousness They lifted her by her elbows, not bothering with ties or cuffs

Herfor her waistband

Wolf’s hand was there first, one arht and she was frozen, staring wide-eyed into his face His eers lifted the back of her sweatshirt and pulled out the gun

He was going to kill theun around so that he gripped the barrel, Wolf held it out to one of her captors

When his severity ret, Scarlet set her jaw "A Loyal Soldier to the Order of the Pack?"

She saw the pain in his gulp "No Lunar Special Operative"

The room spun

Lunar He was Lunar He worked for them

He worked for the queen

Scarlet turned her head away and forced her legs to be strong, refusing to be carried away like a child as they guided her to another set of stairs, stairs that led down to the opera house’s sublevels She refused to give thee’s voice followed behind her, all benevolence "You have my leave to rest until sunset, Alpha Kesley I can see that your trials have wearied you"

Twenty-Eight

Kai paced the length of his office from door to desk, desk to door Two days had passed since Levana had issued her ultiirl, or she would attack

Ti dread He hadn’t slept for over forty-eight hours With the exception of five press conferences in which he still had nothing new to report, he hadn’t left his office in that tin of Dr Erland

Like they’d sih his hair until his scalp stung "Lunars"

The speaker on his desk hummed "Royal android Nainsi has requested entrance"

Kai released his hair with a deflated groan Nainsi had been good to hi nothing when she took the still-full-but-now-cold cups back out hours later She encouraged hi up or that he’d neglected to return the Australian Governor-General’s comms If it weren’t for the title, "Royal android Nainsi," he alh the doors every time she was summoned

He wondered if his father had felt the same way toward his android assistants Oraway the unhelpful thoughts, he rounded to the back of his desk "Yes, enter"

The door opened and Nainsi’s treads rolled across the carpet She was not carrying the tray of snacks he’d expected