Claudia looked up from her papers. “Why does Victor do anything? The short answer is simply because he can, or he thinks that it will benefit him in some way, or both. But he’s always been hard on Deah, much harder than he’s ever been on Blake.”
And Victor had hurt Deah much more than he ever had Blake. Victor should have been proud that she’d finished second in the obstacle course, but he’d been cold and dismissive instead, calling her a loser in front of his sworn enemies. I wondered if anything Deah ever did was good enough for him.
“How does making his own daughter feel terrible benefit him?”
Claudia pulled off her glasses and set them aside. “I have never claimed to understand the inner workings of Victor Draconi’s twisted mind. The only answer I can give you is that he has a dark heart, which you’ve seen for yourself.”
I still remembered the icy knives of his hate ripping into my chest. Even now, the phantom sensation made me shiver—and made me more determined than ever to figure out what he was up to.
“You know, I haven’t been getting anywhere doing things your way.”
“What do you mean?”
I shrugged. “Talking to people and using my soulsight on them is all well and good, but I can’t actually read minds, you know—just emotions. And emotions can mean a lot of different things. So I was thinking that I might try a more direct approach to get the lowdown on what Victor and Blake are up to.”
Claudia arched an eyebrow. “Meaning what, exactly?”
“Meaning that I was planning to mosey on over to the Draconi compound and do a little spying,” I said. “If that meets with her majesty’s approval.”
At my snarky tone, Claudia arched her other eyebrow so that she had a matching set. She didn’t like me calling her her majesty, but that’s what she was—the Sinclair Family queen.
She picked up her glasses and tap-tap-tapped them on top of the papers on her desk. Emotions flared in her eyes one after another: curiosity, concern, hope, guilt. Despite her cool exterior, Claudia really did care about me in her own way. She didn’t like the thought of my spying on Victor, especially since she knew what the consequences would be if I got caught—and that my death wouldn’t be the worst of it.
But it was a risk I was willing to take. I’d do anything to make Victor pay for murdering my mom, and so would Claudia.
Her face hardened, and she laid her glasses down on the desk. “Do you really think that you can slip into the Draconi compound? Without getting caught?”
She might not like putting me in danger, but she was willing to do it if it meant finding information that could derail Victor’s scheme or at least help protect the Sinclairs. I admired her for that—for her ability to make those kinds of hard choices—although I would never tell her so.
“You’re talking to Lila Merriweather, remember? Thief extraordinaire.” I gave an elegant, elaborate flourish of my hand and bowed low.
Claudia huffed. “Perhaps instead of asking whether you’ll get caught, I should be asking whether you can keep your ego in check long enough to get over there and back again. Or will you be too busy patting yourself on the back the whole time?”
I tapped my finger against my lips, pretending to consider her question. “I don’t know. My ego really likes being a badass thief—gives me the warm and fuzzies inside.”
Claudia raised her eyes skyward, as if asking what she’d ever done to get stuck with me. “If Serena hadn’t been my best friend and I hadn’t sworn to watch out for you. . . .”
“I know, I know, you’d tan my hide and send me to bed with no supper.”
She sniffed. “For starters.”
I grinned. “Then aren’t you glad that you made that promise to my mom all those years ago? You don’t have to worry about any hide tanning or worse, depriving me of food. Face it. You’re stuck with me, toots. Like a bad rash you can’t get rid of.”
“Lucky me.” Her voice was as cool as mine was cheery.
I winked at her. For a moment, Claudia’s lips quirked up in what almost looked like a smile; then her face turned serious again.
“When were you thinking about doing this?”
“Tonight. The Draconi guards will be distracted, thinking about the tournament instead of keeping as good a watch as they should. And maybe I can find out something about who cut the rope ladder, if Blake or one of the other Draconis was behind it.”
“All right—do it. We’re running out of time. Victor might not do anything during the tournament, but I wouldn’t put it past him to strike the second it’s over.” Claudia hesitated. “But be careful. Because if the Draconis catch you. . . .”
Her voice trailed off, and her jaw clenched. It was best for both of us not to think about how Victor would torture me before he ripped out my magic, killing me in the process.
“I’ll be careful.” I crossed my finger over my heart in a large X. “Promise.”
Claudia nodded, then slid her glasses back on and started reading through her papers again. I headed out of the library, making a mental list of the things I would need to infiltrate the Draconi compound. Just before I reached the double doors, she spoke again.