Oath Bound
Page 32
“Ready?” Kori glanced over her shoulder at Anne, the Reader, who leaned against the kitchen counter near the stove. Anne nodded. Ian, Gran and Vanessa all watched as they ate from bowls of sauce-drenched noodles.
I felt as if I was on trial. In Wonderland.
Kori started to ask the first question, but Kris beat her to it. “Who are you?”
I exhaled slowly, reminding myself for the millionth time that losing my temper in a room full of armed and hair-trigger people would be a very bad idea. “I told you, my name is Sera. And that’s all you’re going to get out of me until you’re ready to reciprocate.” But even then I couldn’t tell them the whole truth. These were the last people in the world I wanted to tell about my connection to Jake Tower.
Fortunately, I already knew more about them than they knew about me. Than anyone still living knew about me. Gran had given me Kris’s last name and after learning that Kori had worked for Jake Tower, I’d made the connection. She wasn’t just your average former Tower employee, assuming there was any such thing. She was Korinne Daniels, the most visible member of Jake’s personal security team for years—her face was in the background of nearly every photo I’d found of him online.
Shortly before his death, however—which I now knew she’d had a hand in—she’d disappeared from the photos.
Unfortunately, once I’d made the connection, I couldn’t unmake it. At the very least, Kori Daniels was a murderer. Who knew what else she’d done for my biological father—she’d clearly been on the receiving end of the Tower brutality, but I found it hard to believe she hadn’t also dished it out. How could she not have, working for Jake Tower?
Did Kris and his sister have that in common? I hadn’t seen his bare arms or back, but I’d seen his gun and his proficiency with a zip tie, which didn’t quite fit with the quiet but intense way his gaze held mine or the protective anger that emanated from him when he thought about his missing sister. If they didn’t like my answers—if they thought I was a threat to Kenley—would I even have a chance to fight, considering all those weapons in the room?
Would they kill me in front of the little girl?
“Sera what?” Kris folded his arms, watching me as if there was no one else in the room. As if my name was the most important piece of information he’d ever lacked. “You said you’d play nice if we untied you. Please don’t give us a reason not to trust you.”
“I said I’d tell you what you need to know, but you don’t need to know my last name to know if I work for Tower.” I leaned forward, looking right into his blue-gray eyes. “I don’t work for Julia Tower. If you don’t believe me, consult your pet Reader.”
Anne bristled at being called a pet, but she nodded, confirming the truth in my statement.
Kori only rolled her eyes and leaned back in her chair.
“That’s not specific enough. Do you now, or have you ever worked for the Tower syndicate in any capacity?”
“No.” I held Kris’s steady gaze, glad his sister’s question gave me no reason to be nervous.
Readers don’t function like so-called lie-detector tests. They don’t read changes in body temperature and blood pressure; they taste or scent the truth in a statement. Some are better than others. Some can tell you’re lying, but not what about. Some can tell you thought about lying. Some can tell that you’re hiding something, even if you never technically lied about it.
I had no idea how good Anne was. I hoped I wouldn’t have to find out.
Anne nodded, confirming my honesty again, and every gaze in the room centered on me once more.
“What were you doing there?” Kris asked, and I realized he hadn’t even glanced at Anne after my previous answer. Did he think he could read the truth for himself? Was he looking for a specific reaction from me? “Why were you in Julia Tower’s office?”
I hesitated.
I hesitated so long that people started looking at Anne again, even though I hadn’t said anything. But they didn’t need a Reader to tell them I was considering lying; my silence said that clearly enough.
Finally, I exhaled slowly and decided to tell them the truth. Most of it, anyway.
“I was trying to hire her. Well, her people, anyway.”
Kori leaned forward, obviously skeptical now. “Hire them to do what?”
It took me a second to understand her suspicion. I wasn’t the typical Tower client. I didn’t drive an expensive car or wear fancy clothes. I had no obvious wealth, power or authority. I had no discernible means with which to hire the Towers, other than a service agreement.
I met her gaze and held it. “The kind of thing the Towers do. You’d know that better than I would.”
She glanced at Anne, who shrugged. “Nothing yet.”
Their Reader wouldn’t scent any untruth from me. I couldn’t afford to let that happen.
“And you can pay for something like that?” Ian quietly voiced the question they were all thinking. No one looked at him. They were too busy watching me.
“I...” Don’t tell them more than they need to know. My strategy for dealing with Julia Tower had turned out to be just as useful with the Daniels family. Which did nothing to set me at ease. “Yes, I can pay.”
Anne frowned. “She’s not lying, but she’s not being straightforward, either. I don’t think she planned to pay in cash.”
“Blood?” Kori asked, and I understood that she didn’t mean my blood. People often paid with the blood of—and thus the means to control—someone else. Someone more important.
I felt as if I was on trial. In Wonderland.
Kori started to ask the first question, but Kris beat her to it. “Who are you?”
I exhaled slowly, reminding myself for the millionth time that losing my temper in a room full of armed and hair-trigger people would be a very bad idea. “I told you, my name is Sera. And that’s all you’re going to get out of me until you’re ready to reciprocate.” But even then I couldn’t tell them the whole truth. These were the last people in the world I wanted to tell about my connection to Jake Tower.
Fortunately, I already knew more about them than they knew about me. Than anyone still living knew about me. Gran had given me Kris’s last name and after learning that Kori had worked for Jake Tower, I’d made the connection. She wasn’t just your average former Tower employee, assuming there was any such thing. She was Korinne Daniels, the most visible member of Jake’s personal security team for years—her face was in the background of nearly every photo I’d found of him online.
Shortly before his death, however—which I now knew she’d had a hand in—she’d disappeared from the photos.
Unfortunately, once I’d made the connection, I couldn’t unmake it. At the very least, Kori Daniels was a murderer. Who knew what else she’d done for my biological father—she’d clearly been on the receiving end of the Tower brutality, but I found it hard to believe she hadn’t also dished it out. How could she not have, working for Jake Tower?
Did Kris and his sister have that in common? I hadn’t seen his bare arms or back, but I’d seen his gun and his proficiency with a zip tie, which didn’t quite fit with the quiet but intense way his gaze held mine or the protective anger that emanated from him when he thought about his missing sister. If they didn’t like my answers—if they thought I was a threat to Kenley—would I even have a chance to fight, considering all those weapons in the room?
Would they kill me in front of the little girl?
“Sera what?” Kris folded his arms, watching me as if there was no one else in the room. As if my name was the most important piece of information he’d ever lacked. “You said you’d play nice if we untied you. Please don’t give us a reason not to trust you.”
“I said I’d tell you what you need to know, but you don’t need to know my last name to know if I work for Tower.” I leaned forward, looking right into his blue-gray eyes. “I don’t work for Julia Tower. If you don’t believe me, consult your pet Reader.”
Anne bristled at being called a pet, but she nodded, confirming the truth in my statement.
Kori only rolled her eyes and leaned back in her chair.
“That’s not specific enough. Do you now, or have you ever worked for the Tower syndicate in any capacity?”
“No.” I held Kris’s steady gaze, glad his sister’s question gave me no reason to be nervous.
Readers don’t function like so-called lie-detector tests. They don’t read changes in body temperature and blood pressure; they taste or scent the truth in a statement. Some are better than others. Some can tell you’re lying, but not what about. Some can tell you thought about lying. Some can tell that you’re hiding something, even if you never technically lied about it.
I had no idea how good Anne was. I hoped I wouldn’t have to find out.
Anne nodded, confirming my honesty again, and every gaze in the room centered on me once more.
“What were you doing there?” Kris asked, and I realized he hadn’t even glanced at Anne after my previous answer. Did he think he could read the truth for himself? Was he looking for a specific reaction from me? “Why were you in Julia Tower’s office?”
I hesitated.
I hesitated so long that people started looking at Anne again, even though I hadn’t said anything. But they didn’t need a Reader to tell them I was considering lying; my silence said that clearly enough.
Finally, I exhaled slowly and decided to tell them the truth. Most of it, anyway.
“I was trying to hire her. Well, her people, anyway.”
Kori leaned forward, obviously skeptical now. “Hire them to do what?”
It took me a second to understand her suspicion. I wasn’t the typical Tower client. I didn’t drive an expensive car or wear fancy clothes. I had no obvious wealth, power or authority. I had no discernible means with which to hire the Towers, other than a service agreement.
I met her gaze and held it. “The kind of thing the Towers do. You’d know that better than I would.”
She glanced at Anne, who shrugged. “Nothing yet.”
Their Reader wouldn’t scent any untruth from me. I couldn’t afford to let that happen.
“And you can pay for something like that?” Ian quietly voiced the question they were all thinking. No one looked at him. They were too busy watching me.
“I...” Don’t tell them more than they need to know. My strategy for dealing with Julia Tower had turned out to be just as useful with the Daniels family. Which did nothing to set me at ease. “Yes, I can pay.”
Anne frowned. “She’s not lying, but she’s not being straightforward, either. I don’t think she planned to pay in cash.”
“Blood?” Kori asked, and I understood that she didn’t mean my blood. People often paid with the blood of—and thus the means to control—someone else. Someone more important.
