Page 85 of Unraveling Fate

She jimmied the pins in the lock. “We have to get in there.”

“And you just happen to carry lock picks under your formal?”

She shushed him. “Keep it down. I always carry something I’ve made with me. Better to be prepared.”

The lock gave way with a quietsnick. Reyna grabbed the handle and eased the door barely open, gesturing for him to follow her. “Come on.”

“No.” Canon shook his head. Vasilios had changed the game. Canon had to change it again. “I can’t go in.”

“What do you mean, you can’t go in?” she hissed. “We have to help her—youpromisedDrostan you’d help.”

She didn’t get it. You didn’t win chess by charging straight at the king. “Vasilios can’t see me. He can’t know that I know.”

Reyna glared at him. “Coward.”

“No, Reyna—” Canon tried to explain, but she opened the door and slipped in behind a stack of boxes piled just inside the room. He caught the door to keep it from making any noise, wishing he could scream in frustration. He was no coward. But he did seem to be the only one around here who knew how to play a long game.

Cadenza flickeda doubtful glance at the two security guards flanking her down the hall. She checked her phone with one hand, her anonymous roses in the other. “You’re sure Ruairi and Cyrus are here? They didn’t text me they’d arrived.”

“Just in this other green room, Ms. Cavalieri.” The taller guard ushered her through a door.

She pulled up short. “This isn’t a green room.” The space held a few chairs, a spare music stand and several stacks of boxes. But no Norroway brothers. She turned back to the doorway to find it blocked by both guards.

She swallowed. “Where’s Canon? Or Mr. Pearce?”Canon trusts Pearce, right?

“Ah, gentlemen, thank you for finding her.” Vasilios Pearce patted a guard’s shoulder, and they parted their blockade, letting him enter. “Ms. Cavalieri, excuse the detour.”

“What’s going on, Mr. Pearce?”

“I hoped to speak with you a moment before we join your guests. And once again, please call me Vasilios.”

She lifted her chin.“About what,Mr.Pearce?”

He closed the space between them and plucked the phone from her hand.

“What are you doing?”

“No distractions I think.” He caught her hand when she reached for her phone. Cadenza’s ears crackled. The faint chiming of the stars from the window above her stuttered out, and the world went silent. The roses tumbled from her hand. She couldn’t feel the floor, like her feet were dangling over an abyss. She stumbled and fell into a metal folding chair.

“Yes, please, sit, Ms. Cavalieri.” Vasilios stepped away to hand the phone over to the guards.

As soon as he released her, her ears reopened. The starsong returned.

Oh.She gripped the sides of the chair, the cold metal chilling her fingers.Oh, no.The first time the earthsong had vanished, at Canon’s first fundraiser, Vasilios had been there, had touched her. At the Opera House, when her ears felt underwater, he’d been there. At the country club, when the music disappeared under her feet, nearly knocking her over, he’d touched her. And just now, when he’d grabbed her, the earthsong had stopped.

Had gone silent.

Santo cielo.She drew in a shallow breath, trying not to hyperventilate.He’s Silence.Vasilios was still talking to the guards, one of whose voices rose enough for Cadenza to catch a few words.

“…keeping the Norroways in the other room…”

She scanned the room for anything useful, hoping Taran’s brothers were in better shape than she was right now. She didn’t see how humans could be “keeping” Guardians anywhere, but Ruairi and Cyrus had been expecting to be picked up from the airport by people from Canon’s campaign. If they’d asked them to wait in a room until she and Reyna were done singing, the brothers would have no reason to be suspicious. And where were Reyna and Canon? Were they safe?

Or was Canoninon those plans? Her legs turned to mush. He’d been spying for Thomas—who knew what other secrets Canon was hiding?

No.She shook the thought away, deliberately recalling all the times he’d pushed his mask aside.No, Canon may be many things, but he’s not a murderer.

Vasilios locked the door, retrieved her bouquet from the floor and set it on a small dusty table. “We’ll save those, shall we?”