Woven in Moonlight (Woven in Moonlight #1)(61)

The boy speaks in riddles! Does that mean he’s on to my ruse? That he thinks I’m merely acting? If he can see through me, then I’m in trouble. Luna take me, what am I going to do? He’s impossible to read, impossible to navigate. I turn away, my eyes resting on the map and its marked locations. I need his name. Hundreds of lives depend on it.

I jerk my chin toward the back wall and strive for a nonchalant tone. “What do you think the pins mean? Places to launch an attack?”

He stands next to me in front of the desk, and we stare at the map. Our shoulders graze. At his touch, an unaccustomed flutter passes through me, faint and unsettling. His height reminds me of Juan Carlos. Or Rumi.

He could be either of them.

El Lobo turns his head and peers at me. “They’re all the places Atoc has hidden the Estrella. I’ve checked every one but have come up empty.”

I blink, hardly daring to believe my ears. “What did you say?”

“I don’t like repeating myself, Condesa.”

A cold shudder slides down my spine, and my mouth feels like I’ve swallowed spoonfuls of dry dirt. It’s the feeling that comes moments before I lose a fight. “You’re saying these marked places are useless.”

“If you visited any of them, you’d find nothing left. Atoc burns the area to the ground after he’s used the spot. He’s become paranoid and rotates the location of the Estrella every so often—I haven’t been able to pinpoint how often it’s on the move.”

My shoulders slump. Even if my parrot has reached the Illustrian keep, the message doesn’t contain any useful information. I clench my jaw to keep myself from muttering a curse. I’ve failed Catalina. This entire time, I thought—I believed—the Estrella was within my grasp.

Maybe he’s lying … But no. His tone holds no malice, or any hint of deceit. His words are direct and laid bare for me to decide what to think of them. My gut tells me he’s being honest.

Even so, it’d be foolish to take him at his word. Despite what he may think, I’m not a complete idiot. I’ll have to ask him a question I know the answer to and see how he responds.

“All right, Lobo. Who tried to steal the Estrella?”

He slowly shakes his head, amused. “Because I’m in such a good mood, I’ll tell you, nosy. It was Princesa Tamaya. Her antics against her brother are a fairly new development.”

And look where it got her. Served on a platter to their sun god. “How new?”

“The-week-before-you-arrived-in-the-castillo new.”

“That’s why she’s locked away.”

“She’s locked up because her brother knows he can’t control her.”

The mystery surrounding Atoc’s sister confounds me. It’s clear she knows more about her brother than either of us. I need to speak with her again, if only to learn why she tried to steal the Estrella from Atoc in the first place. Maybe there’s a pattern, a clue, something. It’s clear she’s working with El Lobo, and I need to somehow earn both of their trusts.

The fate of my people is in my hands and I won’t leave it to chance. I have to find out his identity. But the thought flusters me. How can I betray someone who’s shown again and again that their intentions are to help everyone in Inkasisa, Illustrians and Llacsans alike?

What kind of person am I to even consider it?

An impossible coil. But I have no choice, not when there are so many lives at stake. El Lobo is staring at me, waiting for my next move.

“We have to work together,” I say. “Let me help you rid the throne of Atoc.”

“Forget it, Condesa.”

I flinch at his tone. “He killed my parents. Even if that were all, it’d be enough. But it’s more than that. He promised to look after his people, and he hasn’t. I’ve had to sit and watch him make deal after deal, weakening our economy, destroying our fields, and raising taxes so high that no one can afford them. People have to pay for water. A commodity that should be free for everyone. I’m alone in the castillo with just my wits, trying to stop this madman from destroying Inkasisa. I’m desperate, Lobo. That’s why I let you take off my mask. If you’re going to laugh at me again, to hell with you and your cheap tricks against the king. Let’s see how far that will get you.”

I break off, breathing hard. I’ve never said anything truer. If he doesn’t believe me now, he never will.

El Lobo remains silent. Watching. Assessing.

Damn it. What am I going to tell Sajra now? I can’t make something up. The castillo is full of his spies. He’ll know if I’m lying.

I pick up my mask and walk toward the door. My hand slides into my pocket to grab a bundle of moondust I can use to drug the guards outside.

“Espera.”

My heart lurches. I face El Lobo and he crosses the room. His dark eyes glitter in the faint starlight. He bends his head. His breath makes the cloth near his mouth move in and out.

“Never,” he says in a raspy voice, “turn your back on a wolf.”

I lift my chin and meet his unflinching gaze. I’m not afraid of him, whatever he might think.

“I don’t know if I can trust you,” he says.

“You’ll never know if you don’t bend a little.”

A suggestive curve appears near his cheek. He’s considering my idea, I know he is, but then he straightens away from me, shaking his head. I swallow my disappointment.