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Clave’s cheeks pinked. “I should say the same to you.”
“I would have revealed your treasonous, salacious thirst for revolution if you hadn’t helped me.”
“After I agreed upon my own free will,” Clave emphasized, “I threatened to turn on you if you refused to accept a proper teaching position. Where I could keep my eye on you at all times.” He huffed, “As if I’d allow a demon at your caliber to wander around Divine Territory unsupervised.”
I could only imagine Razai responding with something like, As if you could stop me. But the demon didn’t argue. A barely-there smile made me wonder if he was holding something back. But for what reason?
Clave smoothed his expensive jacket. “Besides. The entire fiasco only proved the validity of Vang’s mission and our support of him. A demon taught in the halls of the most prestigious Divine school on the East Coast. He shared that negligible, albeit useful, guidance to the youth of Divine Territory, and they absorbed it successfully. There is value in sharing space, knowledge, and respect between our two great nations. As long as it is done in a rational approach. And for your information,” he said, turning those scathing eyes on me, “if I were a model, it would be for avant-garde swimwear. Not sweater vests, you insolent mutt.”
I gave him the finger.
Razai tsked. “Focus, you two. Talk fashion later. During my stay at the school, I had two goals. The first was to gather intel. I wanted to see how the Divine lived and learn more of their magic, their mages, their cultures. Grow close to those in charge while remaining independent of their power struggles. There is only so much I could understand from the Underground.”
“And the school was perfect,” I realized. “You had access to the upper tier of Divine society. And their children.” Yeah, Clave definitely didn’t ‘blackmail’ Razai. Razai had ended up exactly where he’d wanted.
His lips twitched. “Smart girl.”
A flush built in my cheeks. I didn’t need his mocking praise. “What does any of this have to do with Benjamin? The attacks?”
“I said I had two goals, Gray. The second,” he paused, gaze holding mine, “well, the second was to find someone who could outsmart my Demonic enemies. Someone my cousin would never see coming. After years and years of searching, I found the perfect opportunity with Benjamin.”
“Wait, what? You wanted him?”
Clave cleared his throat. “I had been working with Benjamin on advanced illusions for nearly a year when I first discovered his despicable drug scheme. It had been a late Tuesday night, and the moon had been full, though the air a bit humid for my preferred taste —”
“Oh no,” I lamented. “Not against your preferred taste.”
He sniffed, ignoring my jibe. “You see, Razai was the first to recognize that there were some students performing oddly in his classes.”
Razai confirmed, “People on these drugs don’t know how to control their magic or their strength as usual. As you know.”
I did, and my legs still ached from it.
Clave continued, “After Razai graciously shared this information with me, I began to scrutinize these students’ work and performance in my class. The evidence became clearer and clearer that these students were doping. Razai and I were then tasked by our esteemed president to investigate and discover who had been distributing the contraband. That brings us to Benjamin. Only by accident had I caught sight of the small bag placed in his folder and taken it. Empty, of course. I had instantly realized what it was, and the logo left no question about suppliers. Around that time, the first attack occurred.”
Nate’s car had been set on fire.
Clave had let another thing slip. Advanced illusions. “Benjamin fucked with Nate’s head, didn’t he?”
“I will always be the first to admit when I have made a mistake. I had pegged Benjamin as a bright young leader who cared for his classmates and peers. This is why, when he asked for more sophisticated training, I decided to share my deep knowledge of illusion with him. I had thought him an ally to society’s progression. However, I was wrong. Clearly.”
I believed him. Especially after seeing how perfectly he crafted an illusion of Azra. I could only imagine that power being in the hands of someone like Benjamin. Someone who could convince people to see the impossible and do even worse.
Razai sighed. “Tell that to Nate. At first, we didn’t think much of the car incident. Just a prank maybe. Or the kid had gotten his hands on some Underground potion that fucked him up. But Nate behaved too strangely afterward. Too afraid. Too secretive. After looking into his files and performance, Clave and I both concluded he’d been using.
“After I found Yariel in the shower, eyes gouged out and mentally shattered, my suspicions were confirmed. Yariel had been the first person I’d ever noticed acting strange, after all. On top of that, I’d seen Benjamin with all the victims on multiple occasions. Always making friends with new people. Always seeking out the most dejected. The most desperate. His pattern emerged before my eyes. Then, that month, I caught wind of a new lead. A young immortal woman known for finding things in the city. Small things, of course. But she’d built a quiet sort of reputation.”
Me, of course.
“So my plan was to follow you, Gray, and convince you to solve the mystery before the next attack occurred. If you proved useful, I planned to enlist you to help me next.”
“You were going to let him hurt someone else?” I asked, incredulous. Razai had promised me that something terrible was about to happen. He’d known.
He shrugged. “I’d planned to follow him and minimize the damage without revealing myself…” He trailed off, jaw clenching. “When I did follow him, plans changed. He drugged Darby Holland. I found him before he’d cast any illusions, and she was on the floor, and… fuck. He was excited.”
Chapter Sixty-Five
I swallowed hard while my coffee threatened to rise up. Images of Cole’s psychotic, grinning face swam into view. I was all too familiar with the type of person who was excited to hurt other people, and it turned my blood to ice. “Oh,” I whispered.
