Treachery Read Free

sorrow were rising up, threatening to drown me.
    “They did the worst thing they could to you,” he said, bowing his head. “They know that. But Ansel, can you imagine how angry Calla made them? She spit in their faces. She turned against everything she’s ever been given, and they gave her all she could want.”
    His voice had begun to crack. I tried to look at him, but his head was bowed so far, I couldn’t see his expression.
    Not wanting to admit that his words were water in the fissure of the last resolve I had, I said, “They killed my mother.”
    “I know.” Ren lifted his face. He wasn’t crying, but in the fluorescent light, his eyes brimmed. “And there’s nothing that will change her punishment. She’s gone.”
    He stood up, turning his back to me. “The Keepers’ laws are clear. And the punishments for violating those laws are also clear. Your mother knew that. Calla knew that.”
    I tipped my head back, letting the crown of my skull rest on the wall. I couldn’t deny the truth of it. We’d all been so foolish. I’d been such a child. I told Calla I’d break the rules for her. She and Ren had broken the rules so Bryn and I could be together. We were on the road to hell and we should have known it.
    “All that’s left is for us to start over,” Ren said, returning to my side. He sat down, his back against the wall in a mirror of my posture.
    Dropping my head into my hands, I told him, “There’s no starting over for me.”
    “I’m telling you there is,” he said. “That’s why I’m here. To offer you a second chance.”
    I worried that I’d slipped into some new dream. Another torment offered up by my eroding psyche.
    Ren’s gaze was earnest when I turned to look at him.
    “What the Keepers took from you, they can give back.” He refused to break our gaze when he spoke, letting the words settle in. “I swear to you, Ansel.”
    I knew there had to be a catch. That all was not forgiven.
    As if he anticipated my next question, Ren hopped up. “Think about it.” He walked to the door, banging on it with his fist. When it opened, he turned back. “And think about what she did.”
    When the door slammed and Ren was gone, I reached for the glass of water he’d left behind. My hand shook so badly that I only got the glass halfway to my face before it jumped from my fingers.
    I stared at the water as it pooled around my feet.
    Think about what she did.
    As if I’d thought about anything else since the night she left.
     
    When the door opened this time, I was awake. Ren entered and for the first time I wasn’t surprised to see him. Behind him, Logan Bane strolled into my cell, making my bones shudder. Ren’s good-cop bit was obviously over and Logan’s bad cop was bound to be a showstopper with a wraith backing him up.
    Hope followed by despair was the worst torture. I should have known.
    Logan tilted his head, looking me up and down. “He is a bit worse for wear, isn’t he?”
    Ren gave a stiff nod.
    “Hopefully we can amend that.” Logan kept his distance but smiled at me. “I have an offer to make you, Ansel. I think you’ll find it quite generous.”
    I remembered the first time Logan had come into my cell. Ren hadn’t been there, but Logan’s father, Efron, and Ren’s father, Emile, had been. That visit brought no offer of redemption. First, there’d been Emile’s fists. I supposed it was better than his teeth, but even that thought didn’t take away the pain of the heavy blows Emile took obvious delight in delivering.
    After Emile was through, Efron had summoned a wraith. I’d tried so hard to be strong. Brave, even. I’d spat at them. Shrieked curses and hatred as long as I could. But soon enough I’d only been able to scream. And eventually my voice disappeared altogether, though my body still writhed in pain while the wraith clasped me in its black tendrils.
    Lifting my eyes to meet Logan’s assessing gaze, I half wondered where my anger had gone. Part of me