Page 116 of The Hunter's Empire

"I'm serious."

"So am I."

She falls quiet for a few more steps before speaking again. "I know who you are."

My steps falter.

"I know you were the one who took Aurelia."

I stop walking altogether.

For a long moment, I simply stand there with her on my back. The jungle around us fades into the background as her words echo through my mind.

Slowly, I turn my head just enough to look at her over my shoulder. "How long?"

"Since Ireland."

My jaw tightens.

"I saw the mask that night." She says softly.

"You've known all this time?"

"Yes."

"And you never said a word."

"No."

I search her face for any sign that she's bluffing. I don't find one.

"So why keep quiet?" I ask. "You had opportunities. You could've told Keith."

"I could have."

"You still can."

She doesn't answer immediately. Instead, her gaze drifts toward the darkness between the trees, her expression thoughtful rather than conflicted.

"Keith loves Aurelia more than anyone else in this world." She says at last. "If I told him what I know, he wouldn't stop to ask why you did it. He wouldn't care what happened afterward."

She pauses, then looks back at me again. "He'd only see the man who stole the woman he loves."

"And?"

She studies me for another long moment. "And I'm still trying to decide whether that's the whole story."

The words settle somewhere deep inside me. Without another word, I turn back toward the path ahead and continue walking. But her confession lingers in my mind long after the conversation ends.

I keep walking through the jungle, adjusting my grip beneath her legs whenever the uneven ground threatens to throw us off balance, but my mind is no longer on the terrain.

It's on Keith Krogen. On the man the criminal underworld whispers about with equal parts fear and respect.The Butcher.A man who had burned through organizations, crossed continents,and left bodies in his wake without hesitation, all because someone had dared to take the woman he loved.

I know exactly what Keith would do if he ever discovered I had been the one behind Aurelia's kidnapping. He wouldn't ask for explanations. He wouldn't care about motives. He would come for me, and he wouldn't stop until one of us was dead.

What I don't understand is Zora. She has known for months. She has had every opportunity to expose me, to warn Keith, yet she has chosen silence instead. I can't decide whether that makes her reckless, compassionate, or far more dangerous than I'd given her credit for.

"You've been quiet." Zora says softly from behind me.