Page 114 of A Token of Blood and Betrayal

“You’ll get to feel the sun on your skin,” he said.

A smile warmed Melissa’s face.“It’s what we wanted.”

“Christian.”I hated the plea in my voice, the disbelief, but he couldn’t possibly be listening to her.This was a ruse.He wanted her guard down.He wanted the werewolves to trust him.

He looked at me, and something flickered in his eyes, something that said he really did love me.But it wasn’t like Blake’s love.Christian’s was tinged with something dark.Obsession?Regret?Determination?

I retreated a step, shaking my head.

“You’re going to be okay,” he said.

My heart turned as cold and hard as the metal bars of my cage.I hadn’t seen the whole, completed puzzle.I was still trying to convolute things, trying to fit Christian into the scene as a good guy.A hero.What if he wasn’t?What if he’d shrugged away everything Melissa had done?What if he knew the kind of person she was and didn’t care who she hurt?What ifhehad maneuvered me to this place?

Melissa had said she’d eavesdropped on my conversation with Garion.I hadn’t seen anyone at the cemetery, and she’d knocked on my door minutes after Christian left.What did people say?That the simplest explanation was often the correct one?

The simplest explanation was that he told Melissa about the token, that he wasn’t stupid, and he hadn’t missed the signs that his sister was evil.

He’d told Astrid about my idea to try to null the token, an idea that Melissa had basically planted in my mind.He’d aided and abetted everything she’d done.He’d betrayed me.

Christian put his arm around Melissa’s shoulder and pulled her into a hug.“You’re right.She’ll come around.”

My heart locked itself behind a layer of steel.

“You’ll pay for this,” I promised.I’d get out of this prison.I’d track him down—track themalldown—and they’d learn what happens when I stop trying to save everyone and finallychooseto kill.