Page 26 of The Secrets of Jane: Reborn

I nod slightly, shifting in my seat. “I still want my first question answered, that you skipped over.” I slide my tongue over my teeth, my gaze lifting up at him. “Why can I feel you now?”

Ritter moves as if every minute gesture is purposeful, and as his hand dips into his pocket, there’s no rush as he pulls out the ring, like this moment—the entire situation—belongs to him.

He holds up the silver jewelry. “We are all like fish, being dragged around by a lure, unaware that those who use us are so much more powerful than we can fathom,” he answers, moving it around in his fingers. “Whatever magic connects all ofyourkind that allows you to see, feel, or read others can be manipulated. Cypress has made it so this ring and the ruby inside, when worn, can block prying powers, such as yours. Shecan control how much bleeds out, but if I take it off, its ability is moot.”

I glance immediately at one of the rubies growing out of the walls, no longer ‘guessing’ if that’s their true purpose.

Blackwell.

I nearly rise to my feet with this understanding, my racing heart staving off the exhaustion, even if it’s false. The fighter in me wants to storm the castle and rip the truth from him. Staring at the rubies, I accept that Cypress is probably aware of everything in here. Perhaps even controlling Jane somehow with the earrings she wears. My gaze lands back on Ritter. “Before anything else is said, are we allies in this, or are we to become enemies?”

“I exist to ensure Jane’s safety and happiness. So that answer is entirely dependent onyou.”

The lamina of his facade seems so inconsequential when I can sense out the broken, angry man underneath the confidence.

“Let’s skip unnecessary chatter, then—Blackwell and Shade had the same issue as you,” I say,needingthese answers. “And you said Blackwell is working with Misery, so does that god have the same ability to block them?”

He looks off, tucking the ring back into his pocket as he says, “If that’s true, then it does confirm Blackwell’s direct connection to Misery.Someoneis granting him that ability, and I doubt it’s a Sensor. I’ve never heard of onegivingtheir power to another. It’s either innate, or transferred from an ethereal source. And Cypress would never helpanyoneassociated with Misery.”

“That bitch can’t see what Blackwell is using?” I ask with a little too much attitude.

I’m so fucking ready to gut someone.

“No,” he says, resolute, unaffected. “Whatever form Misery takes on now is akin to a corpse, but even then, his corpse-like state rivals Cypress, who's just a witch living off of her god’sendowment. If Misery wants something hidden from her, it will be so.”

I consider those words, and it’s hard to imagine a deity literally among us. “I can’t believe there’s a god who is creating all this mayhem. It honestly sounds like a fable.”

“Who knows what a god really is? All I know is that there are beings out there with powers that make us feel mortal. And you’d do well to accept this reality as quickly as possible. You’re useful to Cypress in all of this, and you have good leverage with your sister. You’re exactly what she wants, which means she’ll drain every last drop of potential you have.”

Our eyes connect, and no matter the skin he takes on, his atmospheric impression is theScorpion—capable, determined, and I can’t ignore how the man feels utterly broken. Like finding a priceless painting with a giant gash ripped down the middle.

He hasnotbeen thriving, even if he looks like it. Seems his witchy aunt is draining everything out of him, too.

“What’s really happening, Ritter? You want my help? Then, reveal all the layers. And tell me everything,beforeyou tell Jane.”

His chin tucks into his neck, like the request disgusts him. “Why the fuck would I tell you everything, especially before Jane?”

“Her heart is in a delicate place,” I respond in earnest. “I want to know what she has to take on.”

“Like you fucking care.” His voice is almost a growl as he leans back into his chair. “I’m honestly torn on whether it’s worth killing you after this is all said and done. Jane only believes she has affection for you because survival demands it of her.”

“And what would you know?”

“I’ve been following you both since you left Coalfell. Saw you walking her inchains.”

“It’s called putting on a show.”

“You took my daughter to appease the Council.” He grips the armrests tighter. “I get it. But still. Do you not think I’ve been trailing your shadow this entire time,notready to stab your heart while you couldn’t read me? To take you down when the opening is so clear and easy?”

I stare at Ritter under this novel light of judging a man I once only knew through legendary tales. What if the fucker is telling the truth? I don’t get a single negative emotion from him toward Jane. Even then, Iwilldissect him as much as I can before he and Jane unveil more to each other. He is the reason her heart is wound so tightly, shredded in places she has tried to mend but failed. The way she kept looking at me when speaking to him, as if sheneededme, fuels me with something dangerously tempting.

She knows who she is with. Who I am. The way I’d love would not be gentle, and that includes guarding her even from her father. And it seems like I’m affixed to that woman like an anchor to a ship, no matter what I do. Especially if the premonitions of her being in my future are true.

I’ll absolutely go out of my way to take care of her.

“Why didn’t you kill me already, if it was so easy?”

Ritter seems to mull that over. “Right before you arrived, Cypress warned me Jane would be in your company. Not when, or how. Just that she would be and not to interfere. But Iwouldhave killed you if you crossed a line. Too many of our kind are selfish and cruel. I wasn’t going to risk it.”