Page 115 of Third Offense

But one part didn’t make sense.

If Sefid already had all these spies in place, why did he need me as bait?

Because Netiri clearly worked for him, as did all these ash-guards.

Although, these guards could be new. I couldn’t remember if they greeted us the other night, or if they’d been replaced.

But still, if Netiri and Iston—who I assumed was part of this due to the gruesome way my mate had slaughtered him—were in on all this, then…

Why now? Why not before? Why does Sefid need me?

I returned to the window, watching as the Nora warriors lined the water’s edge, their brilliant wings blinking in the early morning sun.

Unless… unless he didn’t have spies in place until I arrived, I thought, considering the possibility that my father needed me to be able to properly break through some sort of barrier.

I started thinking back to how we’d traveled here. The trip to Buenos Aires. The plane. The elixir. Our arrival. The transport.I’m missing something. What am I missing?I went backward again, contemplating everyone that had traveled with us.

Then my eyes widened.

Clyde. When’s the last time I’ve seen that little blaze demon?

Before the plane.

Something must have happened between take off and landing, something I couldn’t remember. We had the elixir. Then… then we slept. “Did you all sleep on the plane?” I asked, spinning to face Sorin and Zian. I knew Raven and I had slept, but did the men?

“What?” Sorin asked, his expression telling me he had no idea what I was talking about.

“On the plane, on the way here, did you, Novak, Zian, and Auric all sleep?” I sounded a bit manic, but I could feel the truth lingering right out of my reach. The reason I was needed. The reason for the spell of the last few days. The reason this was all unfolding right now in front of us.

Auric was meant to be a final distraction, I realized, feeling the truth of it in my bones. It was the only explanation that made sense. Yet we saw through it. And now…now the Nora Warriors are coming.

“Yeah, I think we all slept at one point,” Sorin finally replied, his gaze narrowing. “Why?”

“They did something on that plane,” I told him. “I… I don’t know what. But something happened.” I glanced around. “Where’s Gaia? Where’s Kyril?Where’s Clyde?”

It was like having a veil removed from my eyes, the explanation spinning just out of focus.

“Sayir has the tech to make us see things,” I continued, thinking out loud. “He made us imagine all those beasts. Why not Noir, too?” He might have even made Novakthinkthat he’d stayed awake on that plane, when in reality, he hadn’t.

Because I remembered him saying he’d stayed aware. Auric had said the same thing.

But what if it was all a lie? What if they just thought they’d been awake when they’d really slept?

Sayir’s technology was terrifyingly real.

Which meant…

My mother might not even be here at all.

And maybe Kyril had been the mole all along. He was the one who had led us to Iston, to that plane, to this place.

But Clyde had trusted him.

And I’d trusted Clyde.

Unless the little Blaze Demon was in on this all along, too.

I started to pace, my gaze flicking to the invisible shield outside, making sure it still stood. We needed to run. But to do that, we needed to understand the game. Without answers, we couldn’t be strategic.