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24
Viva
"How could this have happened?"Gwendolyn's face was a furious shade of pink. Her eyes flashed with anger. Her hands, curled into fists, were pressed against her hips.
Seth's mouth was set in a thin line.
I wasn't sure if he was furious at Gwendolyn, who seemed to blame him for the escape, or at the escape itself. Or both.
Either way, he clearly had no more answers than she did.
He shrugged. "Like I said, there was a trail of bodies. They left one or two alive, but those who survived didn't see anything." He shot me a look, like I might somehow have the answers.
I raised my hands in a shrug. "I'm as surprised as anyone." More than that, I was worried.
Okay, I was also relieved they'd escaped and nervous about what might happen if they were found. I had hoped for a peaceful abdication, and happily ever after. Now, there might be neither.
My heart ached. Tears pricked my eyes.
I knew Dex wouldn't sit by and let Seth do as he pleased. I wished he would. He could make a life for himself in the outside world, or a corner of the Vault. Right?
Even as I thought that, I almost laughed out loud. Dex would hate that, and the Vault needed him. It needed Devlin. Regardless of my happiness, they had to fight back.
I would feel a lot better if I knew where and when.
"You should have hired better guards," Gwendolyn growled. "They were clearly incompetent. They deserved to die. That includes the ones the escapees didn't kill." She wrung her hands like she might wring their necks.
"The best guards don't stand a chance with greater numbers," Seth snapped. "Especially if some are trained assassins."
He had a point there. Kerina could sneak in anywhere and not be seen, if Bain was to be believed. I knew Latika and her daughters had the same training.
"Do you think they got themselves out?" I asked carefully.
"That or they had help," Seth said. He paced to one end of the room and back. "Maybe Gwendolyn decided she didn't want her beloved husband locked up after all." He narrowed his eyes at her.
Her face went from pink to red. "You think I did this?" If she could shoot lasers out of her eyes, she probably would.
"You wouldn't be the first woman to change her mind," Seth said. That earned him a glare from both of us women. Being angry was no excuse for sexism.
"I did. Not. Let. Devlin. Out," Gwendolyn snarled. The red gradually faded from her face. "Where was Viva while they escaped?"
The look she gave me was nothing short of triumphant, for some reason. If she thought she might score points off me by throwing an accusation my way, she was mistaken.
"Viva was asleep," I said. "In the room beside Dex's. Also, I don't have a map, so I'd get lost if I tried to find my way to the cells."
"Unless you had help," Gwendolyn said. "What's the name of that servant Dex was so fond of? Baffled? Buffoon?"
"Baffor," I said firmly. I was certain she knew that. "Harold Baffor. He's too scared of his own shadow right now. No way he'd help me, even if I asked." Calista or Zophia might, but I had yet to see either of them since I returned.
"Unless you coerced or threatened him." Gwendolyn was nothing if not tenacious.
Normally, I didn't mind a bit of tenacity, it was an admirable trait. In Gwendolyn, it was annoying as shit.
"I didn't," I said calmly. "I don’t scare old men.”
Fuck you, bitch.
Gwendolyn sniffed and looked away. If she had balls, I might have kicked her in them.
