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"I lied"

He still hasn’t flinched

Is he telling the truth?

I raise un to him

Niklas’ eyes widen and he puts out his hands toward me

"Victor, I didn’t betray you I swear to you on er presses carefully on the trigger

"You are my brother!" he shouts "I have always done what you asked, kept your secrets, played your gaave you! I would die before I betrayed you!"

When Niklas’ eyes avert behindthere

"I told you not to come out" I keep my eyes on Niklas

He looks back and forth between the two of us, his features riddled by shock and betrayal on my part

"You said she died"

"I lied about that, too"

I press the trigger a littlewho?!"

Back and forth his eyes dart

"Victor! It Wasn’t Me!" he roars He’s ry than scared, his face twisted with heartbreak and disbelief, his hands clenched tightly into fists at his sides "I won’t beg for my life I won’t do it, brother If you must kill me then kill me, be done with it, but know that I did not betray you!"

In the last second, I lowerfor the past few ainst it

Silence fills the roo

"I think he’s telling the truth," Sarai says softly behind ers draped over the back of my chair For a moment, I almost reach up and touch them

Finally, I raise my eyes to Niklas and say to Sarai, "I believe he is, too"

"How is she alive?" Niklas asks, more concerned with her than the fact that I’ve decided not to shoot hi at her more now thanabout this, but maybe once the shock wears off I’ll be able to read his face a little easier

"Samantha didn’t tell Javier where ere, either," I say "I only told you that to get you here because I was certain you were the one You were the only one left"

"Sa to protect o back into the room

"Javier killed her," she adds with sadness in her voice

"And Sarai killed Javier before I got there," I say

Niklas stares at both of us for a long tiether in hishi the air in front of him with his hand "Saers move from the back of the chair and touch the back of my shoulders, likely involuntarily because she’s so nervous For a et up quickly beforeidea, if he hasn’t already

"What is all this about?" Niklas asks "Tell ot to do with you?" He starts pacing again, looking back at me every so often, his mind in overdrive "You went to Mexico to hear Javier’s offer, to see whose offer orth the contract, his or Guzmán’s And then on the way out, you find a stoay in your car who clearly belonged to Javier Ruiz--"

"I don’t belong to anyone," Sarai says acidly "And irl, it’s Sarai"

I put rows darker looking across at Niklas She crosses her arlares back at her, but he says to et ut" He sits back down in the chair "You knoell as I do that to retract that story will raise all sorts of questions You can’t keep her hidden forever You ht as well have forn someone else to you simply because of our ‘miscommunication’ if that’s e choose to tell him" He shakes his head at me, a faint smile of disbelief at his lips "You’ve done all of this, you’ve lied to the Order, you’ve put the entire mission in jeopardy, destroyed it actually, all because of this girl…" He sneers "Safe House Twelve was coht at Sarai standing behindto see herwithin her

"So irl back in Arizona Reports were that she was only sixteen-years-old Dead because of…Sarai" He s, reddish hair whip behind her as she rushes past me I could have reached out and stopped her, but Niklas deserves whatever retribution she can e to dish out before he knocks her on her ass

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE