Page 167 of Fallacies

“Callan didn’t know,” I grit out.

Grey chuckles, and I hate the way it makes me feel. Like I’m on the outside of an inside joke.

“Oh, he knows, Lucina,” he says with full confidence. “Learning how to find me with the Lure was one of the first lessons I’d taught him.”

I’ve never gone so numb so quickly.

I back away from the bars, shaking my head. “That can’t be true.”

That would mean Callan’s known this whole time. Ever since he found me on that beach and every day since. What reason could he possibly have to keep something like that from me?

“What…” I look down at my necklace, hesitant to ask the question because I’m terrified of the answer. If Callan knew, then there was a valid reason he didn’t tell me…Right? “What is a Lure?”

There’s a sudden rigidness in Grey’s posture. Like he’s just now realized I didn’t know, and he’s wondering if he said something he shouldn’t have.

But it’s too late now.

“Lures…act as magnets,” he explains. “If they’re in the vicinity of each other, they’re drawn together. You’d feel a need to be close. Well, your medallions would.”

I’m silent for a long moment. Long enough that he grows visibly concerned, but I can’t find it in myself to care.

“Your mother and I agreed that finding Callan would be your best chance at finding the Sol that survived.”

Pirn.

“The Lure was the only way to guarantee that.”

I’ve gone completely still, my arms hanging slack at my sides. The light above us vanishes. I don’t have the strength to hold it any longer.

It isn’t possible. That’s the only thought that passes through me. It simply isn’t. Callan would have told me, and if the Lure is anything like Grey described it, I would have known from the start. I would have known that⁠—

I never did ask him how he found me on the beach that day.

I never stopped to wonder why I felt so drawn to him from the start. Why, when Gemma led me through the infirmary that first day, I had wanted him to come with me. He was a stranger, and I felt wary at being led away from him.

Is that why I can sense him in the room before I’ve even seen him? Why being close feels comforting? Why I feel for him in a way I’ve never felt for anyone else?

The insatiable, constant pull between us…I thought it was just…I guess I believed it to be…

“Lucina.”

I hadn’t heard Salem come up behind me, but I hardly react to his voice. Or my name.

“Hey,” he puts a hand on my shoulder, and Grey’s eyes widen as he trails that arm all the way up to the Hound. “It’s time to go.”

I blink a few times, searching for the strength to function like a normal person—like I didn’t just receive all kinds of shocking news.

So many answers, a whole lot of new questions, and no time to ask any of them. The person I want to talk to the most isn’t even here.

“Tomorrow night we’re taking down the ward,” I tell Grey, and there’s no substance to my voice. It’s numbly distant. “And at dawn we’re getting all of you out.” Grey’s eyes light up. “Make sure everyone is ready,” I urge him, glancing at the cages behind me. “Tell them to reserve as much energy as they can and to be prepared to move.”

The former Captain stares back at me, and his smile is so achingly familiar that all I can manage is a shallow nod before turning from him.

My heartbeat is a dull thud in my chest as I move to stand before the Hound, my limbs heavy as I raise my hand to cover my mouth and nose.

Salem doesn’t hesitate, but there’s a crease between his brows as blue mist fills the room, concern in the glow of his irises. I must look as empty as I feel.

This time, when my eyes feel too heavy, I let them close. I keep hold of my consciousness, but I allow whatever magic this is to take the edge off.