Devon gave him a look. “It’s kind of obvious. I’ve known for a couple of weeks now, ever since that dinner for all the Families, when the two of you were staring at each other all night. Besides, every time we run into her on the Midway, you suddenly, mysteriously disappear for a while.”
Devon was smart, able to pick up on subtle things like that, piece them together, and figure out what was really going on. That’s how he’d realized who I really was and that I had transference magic. Just by watching and listening and putting together all the small, inadvertent clues that I hadn’t even realized I’d let slip about my past and my power.
“I was hoping that you would come clean with me, but you didn’t,” Devon continued. “I went to your room, but you weren’t there, so I figured you must have hiked over here. And when Lila wasn’t in her room either, I decided to come look for you both.”
Felix chewed on his lip. “And what do you think about me and Deah? Are you going to tell your mom?”
Claudia wouldn’t like the idea of Felix dating Deah, especially not now, when the Draconis seemed poised to strike out at the other Families. She would order him to break things off with Deah, and he would have to do it. Claudia’s word was law with the Sinclairs, and you either followed it, or you left the Family—for good.
Devon sighed and ran a hand through his hair, the mist turning his dark locks more black than brown. “I don’t have a problem with Deah. She’s always been nice enough to me, given that she’s a Draconi. But she is a Draconi—and not just someone who works for the Family. She’s Victor’s daughter and Blake’s sister. You couldn’t have picked a worse person to sneak around with.”
Felix’s shoulders sagged. “I know that, all of that. But I love her, Dev. I have for a while now.”
Devon looked at his best friend. “I know you do, and I think Deah cares about you too. That’s why I’m not going to say anything to my mom . . . for now. But something’s gotta give, man. You need to figure out if she’s really worth all the trouble that being with her will bring down on both of you.”
Felix momentarily brightened; then his face sobered. He wasn’t just talking to his best friend right now, and he gave Devon a curt, respectful nod, realizing that the Family bruiser was giving him a chance to make things right—for everyone.
Devon turned to me, his gaze lingering on my long coat. “And you came over here to spy on Victor.”
I smoothed down my coat, making drops of mist slide off the spidersilk. “And why would you think that? Maybe I saw Felix leave and was following him instead.”
“Three reasons. You stayed behind in the library to talk to my mom earlier today, you only wear that coat when you’re up to something sneaky, and we’re still standing on Draconi property.” Devon ticked the points off on his fingers. “Victor’s up to something, isn’t he?”
There was no use lying to him. “Yeah. Although I still have no idea what it is.”
I told him and Felix everything I’d seen and overheard at the Draconi castle. When I finished, they were both frowning.
“What do you think those notes in the Draconi files mean?” Devon asked. “What sort of things was Victor going to give his people to increase their magic? Or whatever he’s doing?”
“Not a clue. I took photos of the files, though. Maybe Claudia or Mo will be able to make sense out of them.”
“And Victor has a file on Deah?” Felix asked. “You don’t think he would actually . . . hurt her, do you?”
He chewed on his lip again and started pacing back and forth.
“Of course not,” I said in a smooth voice. “His notes were all about how proud he was of her mimic magic. Nothing else.”
Devon could tell I was lying, and he nodded his approval at me. There was no need for Felix to worry any more than he already was.
Felix opened his mouth to ask me another question, but Devon cut him off.
“We can talk more back at the mansion,” he said. “I don’t think that the Draconi guards patrol this far out, but I don’t like waving this flashlight around where they might see it either. Let’s go home.”
Devon turned around, the flashlight swinging in a wide arc. I was just about to fall in step behind him when the beam swiped across something that was a bright, glossy red.
Blood.
“Wait,” I said. “I see something. Shine your light back over here.”
I pointed as I walked toward the spot where I’d seen the splash of crimson.
“Lila?” Devon asked, peering into the trees and mist around us. “What’s wrong?”
I shook my head. I didn’t know yet. But something was wrong because it was once again quiet in the forest—too quiet.
No owls hooted in the trees, no rockmunks scuttled through the underbrush, no monsters peered out at us from the bushes. I glanced around and realized that this was the same place where I had noticed the eerie silence before, on my way over to the Draconi estate.