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His use of the past tense jabbed like a knife’s point betweenhave you known?" I asked

"I’ve suspected for the last three months, but only procured the hard evidence this month"

"What tipped you off?"

"Rand and his staff helped ave you He stayed while I laced the food with poison I left that goblet of peach juice on my desk to keep it clean It was a fair test Blackberry poison was in that cup, but I didn’t put it there" Valek paused, letting the infor property of blackberries is that only when they’re prepared in a special solution of grain alcohol and yeast and cooked with extreme care to the proper temperature are they poisonous Most cooks, and certainly not their assistants, don’t possess the skills or the knowledge to achieve that result" Valek sounded as if he admired Rand’s ability to brew the poison

The full understanding that Rand had tried to poison e of nausea boiled into the side of the road, I vomited into the bushes Only when my body had ceased its convulsions did I realize Valek was supporting me One of his arainsts, I let Valek lead me to the castle If he hadn’t continued to support ht

"There’s more Do you want to hear it?" Valek asked

"No" The truth, but as we drew closer to the outer wall of the castle coly connection "Did Rand set me up at the fire festival?"

"In a way"

"That’s not an answer"

"The goons that nabbed you waited for you near the baking tent, so I suspected that Rand had told Star you would be there But then he wouldn’t let you out of his sight It was as if he was protecting you Remember how upset he hen he couldn’t find you How relieved he hen he spotted you alive and whole?"

"I thought he was drunk," I said

"I suspect Rand is an unwilling participant At the time of the poison test, he hardly knew you, but as your friendship grew, I iine he finds himself in a difficult situation He doesn’t want to hurt you, but he needs to pay off his gaanization, with plenty s ould be willing to break a few bones for their boss Does that make you feel any better?"

"No" My reaction to Rand’s betrayal seemed extreme even to me, but I couldn’t switch it off It wasn’t the first ti to be the last Brazell had deceived me I had loved him like a father, and been loyal to hi his experis dwindled to the point where I could see hi devotion to hiiven me any reason to think he cared for me, his actions had been easier to stoenuine I had begun to feel as if I had finally made a decent-size hole in the stone barricade I had built around h and enjoy our tiain?

"Anything else you want to tell me?" I asked Valek as we stopped a few feet short of the castle’s south entrance "Did Ari and Janco set me up for Nix’s attack? Do you have another test of loyalty for me up your sleeve? Maybe the next ti!" I pushed away Valek’s supporting arm "When you warned ht youmy food But it seems there is more than one way to poison a person’s heart, and it doesn’t even require a ood It’s called living, and if you want to bow out, then go right ahead But don’t do it halfway Don’t linger in whiner’s liruff "I don’t knohat horrors you faced prior to your arrival in our dungeon If I had to guess, I would think they orse than what you have discovered tonight Perhaps that will put things into perspective"

He strode into the castle I leaned against the cold wall, restingenough, my heart would turn to stone Then betrayals, tests of loyalties and poisons would have no effect on me But the cold eventually drove me inside

"Apply a force on the wrench Not too entle touch," Janco said With healing hands still sore, I clumsily placed the tension wrench into the keyhole and applied pressure

"Now use your diamond pick to lift the pin that’s trapped by the tension, lift it until it breaks," he instructed

"Breaks?" I asked

"Reaches alignes push the pins up so you can turn the cylinder and open the lock The pins hold the cylinder in place You’ll need to do one pin at a time, and continue the pressure"

I slid the pick into the lock past the wrench Ieach of the five pins I could feel a tiny vibration in er joints as each pin broke with a subtle yet distinct click When they were all aligned, the cylinder turned and the door unlocked