Page 25 of Surrendering Her Heart
“You knew too, didn’t you?”
Zamis inclines his head, his glowing eyes steady.
“I suspected. Now, I am sure.”
Something inside me lurches. My pulse stutters, my hands curling into fists before I even realize it. He knew. Not in the way the Council did, not with certainty, but enough. And he never said a word.
A sharp pang of anger, betrayal, something sharper and unnamed claws through my head. For a fraction of a second, I want to push him away, to demand why. But the words don’t come, because the moment I look at him, I see it.
He wasn’t keeping it from me. He was waiting. Watching. Letting me come to it on my own.
The weight of everything crashes down on me at once. Gaius. The Eye. The betrayal, the past, the things I haven’t let myselfthink about for so long. And Zamis is just… there. Watching me. Not pushing, not demanding, just there. My breath shudders out of me.
“What if I can’t do this?”
Zamis steps closer, lifting a hand to my cheek, the touch featherlight but grounding.
“You already are.”
I close my eyes, leaning into him, just for a moment. Just long enough to steal a little strength. Then I straighten, steel settling back into my spine.
“We need to figure out what to do with Gaius and the Eye.”
Zamis nods, silent. The weight of that settles between us, but instead of creating a gulf or pushing us apart, it draws me into him.
We’ll do this. Together. Somehow.
15
AVA
The monitor flickers, casting an eerie glow over the room. It was decided to only have one person in the room with the Eye, which makes sense with the little bit of interrogation training I was given.
Zamis keeps his arm over my shoulders, comforting and close, but not too close. Viewing this has been kept to the most in the know, since we don’t know what we’re going to find out. No point in spreading panic. At least this time I’m in the inner circle.
Riley’s mate, Angota is the one chosen to be in the room, which automatically included her in the group along with Ziva and Rakstan and Nyanna and Shukach. There isn’t that much space in the monitoring room since it was never intended for this purpose, according to the Zmaj. They may say so but it’s turning out to be very effective. No one speaks, watching the screen and waiting.
Angota stands in the center of the interrogation chamber, his massive frame blocking part of the view, but there’s no mistaking the figure bound to the chair. The Eye. The Zmaj whoorchestrated all of this. Who led the Order, who hunted us, who made our lives hell and worse for those who survived the Jungle.
He’s even smaller than I expected. Gaunt. But his eyes burn with something unnatural, something sharp and calculating. He knows he’s cornered, and yet he has a look as if he still has all the power in the room.
Ziva crosses her arms beside me, her gaze locked on the screen. Shukach and Rakstan stand like statues, unreadable, while Nyanna and Riley shift uncomfortably. Zamis is the only one who remains utterly still, watching without a word.
“I expected more of you,” the Eye says, voice smooth despite the situation. “A warrior, reduced to a mere interrogator.”
Angota doesn’t respond to the bait. His wings stay tucked, his tail motionless, a predator conserving energy.
“Why? Why did you attack now? We had an agreement,” he demands, his voice a low rumble that makes the speaker beside the monitor crackle.
The Eye tilts his head.
“Why now? Why not sooner?”
“Answer,” Angota demands, looming closer.
A slow smile curves his lips.
“The sky changed.”
