"And you said I was compromising this operation," she says accusingly. But every single player on this chess board is exactly where I want it. Every single player except me.
It would be too easy to say that I'm a pawn. No, in reality, I am a knight. Limited in my movements, but silent. Deadly. Unexpected.
I am going to make it out of this alive. I am going to disappear, and build a normal life somewhere they will never find me. Somewhere she will never find me.
I don't care about this blood feud. I don't care about my father. I don't care about the Circle of Cavan.
I just want my freedom.
I take a deep, measured breath, as I mentally prepare myself for what has to happen next. I hope that she has underestimated her opponents the same way she has underestimated me. I don't let myself think about the consequences. I am too deep into her web to have any chance of extricating myself now. The only way out of this is forward.
"Actually," I sneer. "Everything went exactly according to plan. We ran their defenses. Maddie is now 'the girl who cried kidnapping.' Logan is going stir-crazy, perfectly primed to do something exceedingly stupid. There is nothing left for you to do. I have done everything, as usual."
"You have, my pet," she smiles at me affectionately. But I know that it will be fleeting, as always. She reaches for me, but I brush off her embrace. I know too much now to ever find comfort in it again.
"I have to get back," I say firmly, stepping away from her. She looks surprised, and offended, but I don't wait. Every minute I'm unaccounted for is one more minute we can be discovered.
And I am not going down for this.
I am getting out of this alive.