Page 141 of Tainted Souls
It’s not a yes, but it’s not an outright rejection either.
“How long will that take?” I ask, thinking of Saul in Cain’s clutches, and the Ravens waiting in the trees.
“A day, maybe two.” He walks toward the door. “You’ll remain here until then.”
Alarm bells ring in my head. “Sir, with respect, I can’t stay. There’s things I have to take care of.”
He stops in his tracks, glancing back over his shoulder. “What kind of things?”
I hesitate, the lie forming too slowly on my tongue. “I need to check on Max.” It’s not entirely false. I do need to see if he’s okay after being used as a conduit for magic.
But it’s far from the truth, because there is no way I’ll be able to.
The general’s eyes narrow. “You know where he is?”
“He was there during the attack, but he wasn’t himself. Controlled, still.” I bite my lower lip, forcing myself to stay calm.
He pinches the bridge of his nose, shutting his eyes for a moment, clearly having heard enough for tonight.“Max can wait. Your safety is our priority right now.”
My heart pounds as I realize what that means. He’s not letting me leave. He thinks I’ve been compromised, and maybe I have been, just not in the way he suspects. “I need to make sure theRavens know I’m alive. They’ll come looking for me, and if they find me held against my will here, it’ll compromise any chance of an alliance.”
There’s no understanding in his expression, but at least a grudging respect for my conviction. “Twenty-four hours, Rosen. That’s all I can give you. Meet me back here tomorrow night with your new… allies.” The word seems to cost him physically to say. “If the council agrees, we’ll discuss terms.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Relief washes through me. It’s more than I dared hope for.
As he opens the door, Lexa is right there, her familiar face a welcome sight despite the circumstances.
“She’s leaving,” the general tells her. “Escort her to the perimeter.”
“But—” Lexa’s brow furrows in confusion.
“That’s an order, Captain Ventura.”
Lexa straightens, professionalism masking her emotions. “Yes, sir.”
As we exit the bunker, the others watch me with varying degrees of wariness and curiosity. I ignore their stares, focusing instead on what lies ahead.
Twenty-four hours to convince the Ravens that this tentative agreement is worth pursuing. Twenty-four hours to prepare for a meeting that could change everything.
Lexa walks beside me in silence as we leave the outpost, waiting until we’re beyond earshot of the others before speaking. “How do we know this isn’t some elaborate trap? The Ravens could be using you.”
“They’re not,” I insist. “Look, I know how this sounds, but I need you to trust me. I’ve seen what Cain is capable of. If he succeeds, no one will be safe. Not in Redmoore, not anywhere.”
She nods, then gently squeezes my arm. “I trust you.”
We reach the edge of the clearing, the dark forest looming before us. I stop, turning to face her fully. “Do you know what happened to Max? How did he escape? Was he kidnapped?”
She sighs, fixing a strand of her hair back in place. “All thirty-seven victims managed to coordinate a simultaneous breakout somehow. No alarms were triggered, no guards were injured. Just gone. You know our containment protocols, right? They’re specifically designed to hold vampires, which means they must have had help from the inside.”
“You have a mole,” I realize.
Even with Max fully possessed, there’s simply no way he could have orchestrated a breakout of all those vampires without alerting a single authority. It had to have been someone with intimate knowledge of Redmoore’s security protocols.
Someone with the kind of clearance that wouldn’t raise suspicions. Someone who might have sympathies we never suspected.
“We’re investigating,” Lexa confirms, eyes grim. She briefly pauses before shifting closer, her voice lowering. “Remember those students from your junior class?”
