Queen (The Blackcoat Rebellion #3)(25)



There were a thousand things I could have said to prove to her I was who I claimed to be—we’d had enough private conversations that it wouldn’t have been hard to pull up some small scrap of memory only the two of us would have. But Knox would have been able to do the same, and yet he didn’t. So for now, I stayed silent.

“How do we know you’re really who you claim to be?” said Knox. “The Celia I know would never point a gun at my head.”

“I’m not pointing my gun at you. I’m pointing my gun at Kitty,” she said. “Goulding is pointing his gun at you.”

“Ah. Morning, Goulding,” said Knox. “Or afternoon now, I suppose. It’s been a while. How’s Jessica?”

“Good,” grunted a low voice behind us. “Due any day now.”

“And you’re still making the poor man work, Celia?” There was an easygoing quality to his tone, the sort that was supposed to relax everyone. I’d heard it before, when he’d been trying to calm me down or get on my good side, and I’d thought I was immune to it by now. But even with Celia digging the barrel of her gun into my jacket, I couldn’t help but breathe a little easier. Whatever this was about, we would get it sorted out soon enough.

The tunnel was long—nearly a mile, if I had estimated correctly, but in the darkness, it felt three times that. Finally, Celia warned me about the upcoming staircase, and I took the steps two at a time, eager to get my vision back.

As Knox had predicted, a pair of guards stood waiting at the secret entrance—or not so secret anymore, I supposed—to Somerset. I only saw them when one pushed open the door, and light flooded the tunnel at last. Even though itwas barely brighter than candlelight, I squinted.

“Kitty, Goulding will take you to Knox’s old room,” said Celia, and I frowned.

“Don’t you want to make sure it’s me first?”

“I can tell it’s you,” she said. “You’re not nearly as mysterious as you think. Knox, you’re coming with me.”

“I would rather not be separated from Kitty, if you don’t mind,” he said. “It’s been a rough night and day for both of us.”

“Too bad. Once I debrief you, you’ll have plenty of opportunity to relax,” she said. “I assume that’s why you came, after all. To discuss the ground my team gained last night.”

“We’re all part of the same team,” he grumbled, then glanced at me. “All right with this?”

“I don’t need a babysitter, Knox,” I said testily. Besides, that would give me plenty of time to retrieve the file while Celia was distracted. It wasn’t exactly what we’d planned, but it wasn’t the first time we’d had to wing it, either.

“I see Elsewhere didn’t starve the feistiness out of you,” said Celia. “Come on, Lennox. I don’t have all day.”

Reluctantly Knox followed Celia through another passageway, one I’d never gotten around to exploring. I’d had my own way around Somerset, and any passage Knox knew about, at the time, had been practically worthless to me. But it must have been useful to the Blackcoats; on our way up the stairs and through the creaking attic, we ran into four more members of the rebellion, and each offered me a flash of a smile and a greeting.

“Down you go,” said Goulding as he opened the trapdoor for me. I lowered myself into Knox’s old closet, wrinkling my nose at the scent of dirty clothes. In the living room of his suite, I plopped down on the leather couch, toeing off my boots and stretching my legs as if I had every intention of staying put for a nice, long nap. Goulding, however, lingered near the door, his stance square like a trained soldier’s. Apparently I wasn’t the only one settling in for the afternoon.

“Is this your first baby?” I said, and he nodded.

“Just got married last year.”

“Do you know if it’s a boy or girl?” I said. He didn’t look much older than me, and the thought of having a kid sometime in the next five years was terrifying. If I even survived that long.

“We’re hoping to be surprised,” he said gruffly.

“Congratulations,” I said with a smile I genuinely meant. It was jarring to hear other people’s lives were continuing almost exactly as they had been before the rebellion—even for other Blackcoats—but of course they were. The entire world hadn’t stopped just because I’d been Masked and thrown into Elsewhere. And at least it wasn’t all death and darkness. Goulding’s expression didn’t change, however, and I lay down, too afraid of falling asleep to actually close my eyes. If he was going to stay, then I had to come up with a way out of here, and fast.

There were no vents large enough for me to crawl through in the bathroom or the bedroom—I’d looked months ago, just in case. The only vent I could get through was the one directly above Knox’s desk, a few feet away from where Goulding stood. And I highly doubted Goulding would be willing to let me leave right in front of him.

“Do you know how long Celia’s going to talk to Knox?” I said idly, and Goulding shook his head. “Am I allowed to walk around, or do I need to stick to this suite?”

He managed an apologetic look, at least. “Celia’s orders.”

“Knox runs the Blackcoats, too, you know,” I muttered.

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