Chances were, Jelisette didn’t know about the deal.
Brynleigh would make sure it remained that way. The last thing she wanted to do was betray Ryker’s trust just as she was regaining it.
But she had to tell her Maker something.
Brynleigh rapidly formed a plan. It wasn’t great, and honestly, it could very well turn sideways on her, but it was still a plan. And that was… good.
Well.
Good might be an overstatement, but it wasaplan.
She wouldn’t betray Ryker. Instead, she would use her knowledge of her Maker’s involvement in the Black Night, infiltrate the rebels’ ranks, and use the information she received to win Ryker back.
Imagining how pleased he’d be when she provided him with detailed information about the rebels, Brynleigh decided this was the best course of action.
“The fae captain is a sentimental fool.” She willed her face to be blank despite the pain the words caused her.
“Oh?” Jelisette raised a manicured brow.
Brynleigh’s heart twisted, and she nodded. “Yes, and he believes in love, so he bargained to get me out of prison.”
After your actions landed me there in the first place.
Brynleigh didn’t say those words, but she wished she could.
Jelisette propped her chin on her hand and studied her progeny. She didn’t look a day over thirty, except for her eyes. Her dark gaze was like looking at death itself. Brynleigh had seen killers with warmer expressions than the one currently surveying her.
Her Maker asked, “He loves you?”
He used to. Brynleigh wasn’t sure if Ryker felt that way now, but she wouldn’t say that, either.
“Yes.”
“And how do you feel about him?”
This would be the hard part. Brynleigh wanted to shout her love for the captain from the rooftops, but she was under no false pretenses about where she stood with Jelisette. Doing that would get her killed.
“I have no feelings for Ryker Waterborn.” The words burned like acid at the back of Brynleigh’s throat. “He was, and still is, my mark.”
Lies, lies, lies.
Her heart raced in her chest. She eyed her Maker, watching for any reaction at all.
“I see,” was Jelisette’s monotone response.
Did she? Brynleigh was walking a dangerous path, spinning aweb of deceit. She couldn’t find it in herself to feel bad about it, though. After all, Jelisette had lied to her for years. It was her turn to be on the other end of things.
Since Brynleigh’s throat was still intact, she continued with the next step of her plan.
“I’m playing him.” She approached the desk and placed her palms flat on the wooden surface. “I know I was supposed to kill him, but it turns out that one Representative isn’t enough.”
The smallest semblance of a smile crept onto Jelisette’s face, and she made a noncommittal sound.
Brynleigh had to be careful. She had to leave enough breadcrumbs so that Jelisette would trust her but not enough so that her Maker would be suspicious that this change of heart came too fast.
“I want to hurt them all. Do something that would forever alter the Republic of Balance.”
More lies.