Page 109 of The Immortal’s Mark

“Is there anything else I can get for you?” she asks the table, but her eyes fix on Gregory.

“I think we’re all set,” I answer politely.

She waits an extra second. When Gregory doesn’t look her way, her smile falters.

“Great. Enjoy your meal.”

She walks away, but not before giving Gregory one last longing look.

“Alright,” he mumbles, stabbing a piece of lettuce with his fork. “I saw it that time.”

Paige and I laugh.

He smirks, but it falls when his phone’s screen illuminates.

He snatches it up and answers the incoming call immediately. “Hello?”

I take a bite of my salmon and watch him, chewing slowly. His posture tenses as he listens. The casual restaurant noise around me fades under the sudden shift in his energy.

“Yes. Alright. I will send you my location.”

He ends the call and sets the phone down.

I swallow and take a sip of water. “Who was that?”

“An informant,” he replies, stabbing a tomato and popping it into his mouth. “She will be meeting us here.”

“Seriously?” Paige’s eyes widen. “Here? Are we getting backup?”

“She’s an ally,” Gregory says. “King Alexander has been informed. He approved the meeting. Our source cannot risk venturing to the safehouse.”

“Why not?” She frowns. “Is she a fugitive or something?”

“She is undercover,” Gregory answers, voice clipped.

“Is it safe?” I ask.

If she’s undercover, meeting in a public restaurant feels…reckless.

“Yes,” he says without hesitation, but he doesn’t elaborate.

“I don’t like it,” Paige says. “The safehouse is secure and hidden from the rebellion. We’re out in the open here.”

Gregory’s gaze flicks to her. “Who said she needs to conceal herself from the rebellion?”

Before I can ask what he means, the sound of heels clicking against the wooden floor slices through me.

My breath catches.

My mind throws me backward to Evetta’s attack. To pain and terror. To the moment my old life ended.

Panic rushes up my throat.

I squeeze my eyes shut and force air into my lungs.

It’s just shoes…

It’s just shoes.