“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“What had to be done,” said Benjy, and to his credit, he didn’t flinch. “I believe him, Lila—”
“Kitty,” I said. “Greyson knows.”
“Good.” He and Greyson exchanged looks before he continued. “We have the gun. That’s what we need, right?”
Reluctantly I nodded, opening the cylinder to make sure it was full. “These could be blanks.”
Greyson peered over my shoulder. “They’re not. See the way the metal crimps?”
“I can do it,” said Benjy as I inspected the bullets. “I’m with him every day. The guards search me, but I could find a way—”
“No.” I closed the cylinder and set the pistol aside. “You’re not taking that risk.”
He scowled. “Kitty—”
“If you do it, you’ll just be a rebel, and he’ll die a martyr,” I said. “If Greyson does it, people will speculate he only wanted his father’s power. But if Lila does it—if the beloved mouthpiece of the Blackcoats does it—the people will be behind her.”
Greyson bit his lip. “It’ll have to be in public. On camera, if we can manage it.”
“That’s the only time we’re allowed to get close to him anyway,” I said. “You’ll pardon me, won’t you?”
That got a small smile out of him. “I think I can manage that.”
“Good. And Benjy—” I looked at him. “Thank you.”
Benjy crossed his arms, and the tips of his ears turned red. “I don’t want you doing this.”
“Doesn’t matter. It has to be done. Everything will work out—we’ll make sure it does.” I touched his elbow. Part of me was hoping for the spark we’d been missing, but as reassuring as it was to have him there, planning and strategizing with us, that was all it was: a familiar comfort. The boost of confidence I needed to go through with this. If there was a hole in the plan—a real hole, and not simply Benjy’s fears about losing me—then he would tell us.
“Okay,” said Greyson, looking back and forth between us. “First chance we get.”
I nodded, my heart racing. We could do this. We could really do this. “First chance we get.”
* * *
That chance didn’t come for weeks.
With Greyson busy tinkering with his bug, and with Benjy catering to Daxton’s every want and whim, I was left largely on my own each day. Sometimes I sketched while Greyson worked; sometimes I watched the news. But mostly I explored Creed Manor.
There were parts I couldn’t access—Daxton’s quarters, mainly, which put a damper on things. And the vents were far too small for me to fit inside, much to my frustration. But I memorized every hallway, every room, every closetof Creed Manor I could find, until I knew it as well as I had known Somerset.
My knowledge of the manor’s layout came in handy when, at last, Greyson managed to get his bug up and running. We weren’t sure what we expected to get out of it, but it was comforting, having a way to find out what Daxton was really up to. And once the bug had the run of the manor, Greyson and I spent hours in his suite, watching the feed and waiting for anything telling to happen.
It never did. And the more time that passed, the more discouraged I grew. Daxton had yet to give us an opportunity to kill him, and though I was tempted to do it over yet another course of roast beef, I knew that would only put every other person in that room in danger. Greyson was right—it had to be public. All we could do was wait.
One morning, at the crack of dawn, a guard burst into our bedroom. “Get up,” he ordered. “The car leaves in an hour.”
“We get to leave?” I said groggily, sitting up from the second bed in Greyson’s suite. “Where?”
“Oversee reconstruction of Somerset,” the guard grumbled.
Greyson and I exchanged a look, and my heart leaped into my throat. This could be it. This could finally be the opportunity we’d been waiting for.
Once the guard left, we got ready, and I carefully hid the gun inside the lining of my bulky winter coat. One shot. That was all I needed, and all of this would finally be over.
We took two cars to Somerset, with Daxton and Minister Bradley in the first while Greyson, Benjy, and I followed in the second. I checked to make sure the privacy screen was up, blocking our conversation from the driver. “Do you think the guards will try to protect him?” I said in a low voice as we drove down an avenue toward Somerset. Creed Manor wasn’t far, but that only gave us a few minutes to talk, and I needed to be prepared for anything thatcould happen once I pulled the trigger. Having Greyson and Benjy there wasn’t ideal, but with luck, I could separate from them. If the guards retaliated, I wanted to be the only one who paid the price.