Midday was held in the large meeting room I hadn’t been in yet. There was a huge table surrounded by chairs. It appeared everyone had arrived, as there wasn’t a single seat open, except two at the head of the table. All eyes were on us as we entered the room. Marin took his place at the head of the table, grabbing an extra chair at the back of the room on the way. He sat down and indicated I should take a seat next to him, Zanth on my other side. Zanth leaned over and whispered the 4-1-1 on the people at the table while Marin began the meeting.

We were at the head of the table as representatives of the clan chief. To our left sat Finn for Clan Orin. Next to him was Zak of Clan Tern, Broot of Clan Forik, and Torrin of Clan Forg. On Marin’s right sat Stein of Clan Halit, Aron of Clan Hazern, Ned of Clan Tryst, and Near of Clan Barrel. I knew only four people at the table, and from the glares I received from the others, I’d been a frequent topic.

The tall guy on Marin’s right spoke up as everyone settled. “And who might you be, lovely lady?”

“Do not be coy, Stein. You know who she is.” Marin raised his voice answering for me. “You all know who she is. You should all know by now, she has been staying here, while the killer has been loose. This is not a secret any longer.”

“Clan Halit does not support you giving personal protection to this outsider.” Lara’s father was a strapping man, older than Ute, but weathered well. Thick ebony hair cut long, no stripes in his hair, no smile on his face.

I glanced at Finn while Stein and Marin argued. He was looking at me. When he saw me glancing back, he mouthed, “Are you all right?”

I recalled what he’d said last night. I stared at him and thought, I’m okay.

He smiled at this and mouthed, “Still cannot hear me?”

Shaking my head, I shrugged. Marin gripped the back of my chair and shifted it. I glanced up at him and his closed expression. I must’ve missed something.

Marin started again. “We should expect an attack tonight. The killer knows she is here. I want more men on the house. We will move her later today to a secure location.”

“To protect her,” interrupted another clan leader. This one was short and squirrelly, Ned of Clan Tryst.

“Yes,” Marin replied. “They want her; they are going to have to go through me to get her.”

“I say let them have her,” said Near, a thin, gangly gentleman to Ned’s right.

“That is not an option.”

A tall man with light brown hair rushed to my defense, as well. Zak of Clan Tern said, “We will not give over anyone to these people. That is not our way. To suggest otherwise demeans us all.”

His condemnation hung in the room. Take that.

The food arrived, the discussion shelved for the moment. I could see the cliques in the clans as they sat and plotted. My gut churned when I saw Stein talking to Near.

“The weapons are ready,” Marin said when lunch was over. He waved to a guard who brought in a tray heaped with imbued blades. “I want every fighter, every guard to get a dagger. We do not have enough for everyone just yet, only the fighters. All weapons are numbered and will be accounted for. This is our future. This is our tool to destroy the Imani. We cannot lose this edge.”

He slammed his blade into the table. The guards handed out the rest.

Marin placed his hand on my shoulder. “I want it known that Elizabeth is under Clan Gaol’s protection, my protection, the clan chief’s protection. A significant part of the information we have comes from her. She has my trust. I expect you to give her your trust as well.”

“You cannot just dictate that,” said Aron of Clan Hazern. He slouched back, at ease, his hair cut short and his eyes sharp. “For days, you have been saying she left, escaped and ran away.”

“Yes, I can. I just did,” Marin retorted.

Aron shifted, mouth opened. Stein tapped his shoulder and shook his head. Guess we knew who pulled his strings.

Marin’s hand stroked down my neck; his fingers combed through my hair. He was blatant in his touches, staking his claim. People had to have noticed. I looked up and sure enough, Finn was glaring.

Finn lifted a brow at me. He looked at Marin’s hand on my neck. I raised my eyebrows. Not his business anymore. His lip curled.

The arguments devolved into shouting. I should’ve paid attention to get an idea of all the politics at play, but the cold stopped me. That bone-deep chill spread through my bones. The killer. My chair scrapped the floor as I stood up. All conversation ended.

“What?” Near asked.

I crossed the room to the wall, breath frosting, I held out my hand. The Imani were outside the building.

“He’s here. We need to get out of this room.” I backtracked to the door, collecting Marin and Zanth. Finn gathered up Ute, Torrin, and Zak. The rest scattered toward the exit. Everyone made it to the door when an explosion rocked the house.

“He’s outside,” I yelled. Master of the obvious, that’s me.

Men rushed out the door, weapons bared. Marin left me standing alone in the hall with Zanth, Stein, and Ned. My ears were ringing, thoughts swirling. Who could’ve placed that bomb? It had to have been someone close, someone trusted. The bomb would’ve taken out the entire clan leadership in one fell swoop. How did the killer get it in?

Stein addressed Zanth, “You can go. I will protect the woman.”

I scoffed. Zanth cut him a glance, and Ned just walked out, shaking his head. I couldn’t trust Stein. I didn’t know him, but I knew Zanth. I might not like him, but I was pretty sure he wouldn’t hurt me. Hand on his hip, Zanth pointed to the door. Stein’s face turned red and he stalked out.

Zanth led me up to the library. We sat there, on edge, waiting. My hands shook. My body tensed. Anticipation filled the air.

A light tap sounded at the door, Zanth answered it. I watched my hands. Why couldn’t I stop shaking? My daddy taught me better. I fisted my hands and looked up.

Lara loomed in the doorway. She smiled at me, teeth gleaming. “There you are.”

She sat in a chair next to mine and took my hand. My, wasn’t she chummy? Last I knew, she hated me. What was with the new attitude?

“Come with me.”

“What? Why would I go with you?” I glanced at Zanth; he had his head tilted as he regarded Lara.

“Marin wants you out of here. He thinks the bomb might have made the house unstable. He asked me to escort you to Ute’s.”

“That doesn’t make sense. Why wouldn’t he come himself, tell us himself? Why would he send you?” I asked.

Zanth’s eyes narrowed on her.

Lara patted my hand. “He is outside in the woods with the others. They are following the killer. They believe they have him pinned down and are hoping to test their weapons, those amazing weapons. Do you think they can hurt the Imani? My father never told me about them.” Her patting increased. “Several of us heard the explosion and ran here. We saw them as they went after the killer.”

Our clasped hands drifted to her lap, her dark violet dress bunched up at her knees.

That could have been what happened, but something niggled at me. Lara stood and tugged me to the door.

Zanth followed us. “I will come too.”

She stumbled then smiled. “All right.”

We followed her out of the house. For some reason, this trip reminded me of when I first came to Groos. The silent march. It felt wrong then; it felt wrong now. Someone just tried to kill us, her father included, and she seemed way too calm and…gleeful.

Wait. Dark violet dress. Lara.

It clicked.

Lara was the spy.

The Imani must have gotten to her that first night or soon after, the night they killed Gia, maybe. Lara had been gathering information for them ever since. She’d sought me out during my first day here, and that was out of character for her. She was haughty; to talk to me would be beneath her. That night, a little boy died because he recognized her. Amalie would’ve been next, if she recovered from her brother’s death.

The magic kept them out, or the numbers. There were thousands of Fost. So Xade infiltrated the town, and he found Lara, broke her. He was good at that. She fed him information. But why did they want me back? The memories showed me escaping after they tried to kill me. Then it dawned on me.

The magic. Lara saw my marks. She knew I had magic. The Imani went to war with the Fost because of the magic. They already had my DNA mapped. I was a known subject. I could be the key they needed. But they had to find me first. It was hard to distinguish one house from the next if the seekers weren’t from here. The Imani walked right by me.

The next night, Lara must have showed them. She entertained Zanth before that, to give herself an alibi. That was why Finn could smell Zanth nearby. Then I went into hiding. Her father was leading the clearing of the mines so she knew its weaknesses. She directed them there to draw me out. As she said, she didn’t know the importance of the metal; thus, the attacks were to damage, not destroy. It all made sense.

It could be a coincidence, but the pieces fit. What I had was circumstantial at best, but I knew I was right.

Lara was the spy. Now that I thought about it, I even recognized her in the haze.

Why didn’t I see this before? Marin said he knew. He said the spy was high-ranking. The only daughter of a clan leader would fit that category. Plus, that would explain how cold he was to her last night. Why he tried to track her down and was so sure there would be an attack today.

And Finn, he had to have known, especially with his newfound sense of smell. Was the kiss a show? To find out if she was the spy? Or was that just bonus? How far would he have gone to get the final proof they needed to charge her with something? Why didn’t either of them tell me? The assholes.

I grabbed Zanth’s hand as we walked and squeezed. He looked down at my hand and squeezed back.

Lara is the spy, I thought to Zanth.

Zanth turned his head; his eyes were dark, his jaw tense. He nodded.

Lara walked ahead of us. We were at the end of the path leading from level one to level two, near the entrance, close to where Gia died.

She veered off the path into the forest. “Did you hear that?”

“What?” said Zanth.

I didn’t hear shit.

“A child. I hear a child. We need to go help them. Maybe the killer circled back and is hunting another little one.”

She bolted into the trees, soon lost to the shadows of the spiky limbs. Zanth glanced over at me. We were both thinking the same thing. This was a trap.

Zanth looked at me as if I were nuts when I started to trail behind her. He tugged on my hand, still clasped in his. Marin was going to kill me for this, but I had to know. I had to confront my enemies.

I pulled him along with me into the forest. I needed answers. No more hiding.

As we traveled deeper, I could feel that bone-deep chill I was beginning to know so well. The source was ahead of us. A cold weight settled in my gut. We passed a copse of trees; ahead of us, there was a clearing. In the clearing were the Imani. Not just one or two. Many. Fifteen or twenty, at least. Glimpses of dark gray to my right and left. Maybe more in the trees themselves.

Ute was right. I didn’t look like an Imani. They gave off a Stepford vibe. All of them wore the same dark gray uniform, the shivat, exactly like the one I’d worn into town. They had milky white eyes, platinum blond hair, and narrow faces. Their hair was the same length, parted in a perfect line down the middle. The same nose, the same chin. The sheer sameness was their most distinguishing characteristic.

A single figure stood out ahead of the rest. White eyes met mine. I knew that look, that glee. Xade.

Memories flooded me. This wasn’t the best time to have a flashback, surrounded by enemies, but the image remained.

Xade stood over a desk, the translucent rock glittering with red lights. Three bottles and some pink body parts decorated the table. He ground up the tissue until it was soupy, and then strained it into a beaker. The first bottle’s contents were mixed with the mash. When he finished, he glanced up at me. He pointed to another slab of meat to test.

Blank-faced, I picked up the pestle and ground my own beef… I didn’t want to know what the samples came from. A few minutes passed; he added a dry powder, then poured a sharp-smelling liquid into the mix. I watched as delicate white filaments formed in the top layer of liquid.

DNA.