Chapter 52 The Warning
"Who calls her that?"
My voice came out as a whisper. I looked up from the glowing screen to Enzo. He was still watching the horizon, his hands steady on the rifle.
"Who calls whom what?" he asked without looking at me.
"The Viper," I said. "Who uses that name for her?"
Enzo frowned. The scar on his cheek pulled tight as he grimaced.
"Rinaldi's men, mostly," he said. "Or the old families in the south. It is a name born of blood, girl. You don't hear it in polite conversation."
I looked back down at the phone.
The Viper.
Selena was a waitress. She worked double shifts at a diner near the port. The most dangerous thing she dealt with was customers who didn't tip. She didn't know the old families. She didn't know Rinaldi.
So how did she know the name?
Panic started to rise in my chest, tight and cold. It wasn't suspicion. It was fear. Pure, suffocating fear.
"She's in trouble," I whispered.
"Who?" Enzo asked.
"My friend," I said. "In the city. She... she stopped texting me weeks ago. I thought she was just busy. But now she is asking about Lucrezia. She used the name."
My mind raced. If Selena knew that name, she must have heard it from someone dangerous. Maybe Rinaldi's men were eating at the diner. Maybe they were talking about the fortress. Maybe they had cornered her to get to me.
I typed a reply, my fingers shaking so hard I almost dropped the phone.
Are you safe? Who told you that name?
I hit send. I stared at the screen, willing the dots to appear.
Nothing.
The silence was worse than the text.
"If she knows Lucrezia is here," I said, thinking aloud, "then the location isn't secret. Rinaldi knows."
Enzo turned to look at me. His dark eyes narrowed. "If Rinaldi knows the Viper is here, he won't just sit in the city. He'll strike."
"I have to tell Dante," I said.
I shoved the phone into my pocket and turned toward the stairs.
"Girl," Enzo called out. "Don't go running into the lion's den without a weapon."
"I have to warn him," I said. "If the city knows she is here, we are compromised. They might be hurting her to get information."
I didn't wait for his answer. I ran.
I took the stairs two at a time. My boots slammed against the stone. I needed to get to the War Room. I needed to show Dante the text. He would know what to do. He would know how to save Selena if she were being held.
I burst into the second-floor hallway.
The two guards in black tactical gear were still standing in front of the double doors. They stiffened when they saw me coming.
"Step aside," I said, breathless.
"We told you," the guard on the left said. He didn't even blink. "No interruptions."
"This isn't a social call," I snapped. "We have a security breach. I need to speak to Dante. Now."
The guard hesitated. The words security breach were magic. They made soldiers nervous.
He reached for the radio on his shoulder.
"Wait," I said. "Just let me in."
"I have to call it in," he said.
Before he could press the button, the handle of the war room door turned. The heavy wood groaned as it opened inward.
It wasn't Dante.
Lucrezia stood there.
She wasn't wearing her coat anymore. She wore a fitted black dress that looked more suitable for a funeral than a war room. She held a file in her hand.
She looked at the guard, then down at me. Her expression was bored.
"I could hear you shouting from inside," she said. "It is very distracting."
"We are compromised," I said. I stepped forward, ignoring the guards. "People know you are here."
Lucrezia stopped. Her boredom vanished, replaced by a razor-sharp focus. Her green eyes narrowed.
"What did you say?"
"There is chatter in the city," I said. I tried to keep my voice steady. "People know The Viper has arrived at the fortress."
I saw a flicker of something in her eyes. It might have been a surprise. It might have been anger.
She took a step closer to me. The smell of lilies was suffocating.
"And how, exactly, would you know about chatter in the city?" she asked softly. "We are on lockdown. No signals in. No signals out."
I froze.
My hand went instinctively to my pocket, covering the burner phone.
If I told her about Selena, she would ask to see the phone. She would see the text history. She would see that I had a line to the outside world that I hadn't surrendered.
And if she saw Selena's number...
I thought of Enzo's warning. They poison your water.
If Lucrezia thought Selena was a leak, she wouldn't rescue her. She would silence her.
I couldn't give her the name.
"I... I heard the guards," I lied. It was a weak lie. "On the ramparts. They were talking."
Lucrezia stared at me. She didn't blink. She was dissecting me, peeling back the layers of my panic to find the truth underneath.
"The guards on the ramparts are completely isolated," she said. "They don't have radios that reach the city."
"They must have heard something," I insisted. "Please. You have to tell Dante to check the perimeter. If they know you are here, they might be planning an attack. My... the source sounded scared."
Lucrezia smiled. It wasn't a nice smile.
"Dante is busy fixing the mess your father left us," she said. "He doesn't have time to chase ghosts because you are feeling paranoid."
"It's not paranoia," I said. "Someone is watching us."
"It sounds like hysteria," she countered. She leaned in close, her voice dropping to a whisper. "Go back to your room, Lilith. If there is a breach, my men will find it. We don't need help from the hostage."
She straightened up and looked at the guards.
"Escort her to the library," she ordered. "And keep her there. I don't want her wandering the halls spreading rumors."
"You can't do that," I said.
"I just did," she said.
She turned and walked back into the War Room. The heavy doors slammed shut in my face. The lock clicked.
I stood there, staring at the wood.
She didn't believe me. Or she didn't care.
"This way, Miss," the guard said. He took my arm. His grip was firm.
I pulled away.
"I can walk," I said.
I turned and walked down the hall. My heart was pounding against my ribs like a trapped bird.
I hadn't warned Dante. I had just put a target on my own back. But worse, I hadn't helped Selena. If she was in trouble, if Rinaldi had her...
I reached the library and slipped inside, closing the door before the guard could take his post. I leaned against the wood, trying to catch my breath.
I pulled the phone out again.
There was a new message.
My hands shook as I opened it. I expected a plea for help. I expected coordinates. I expected to hear that she had escaped.
But it wasn't a plea.
He's going to lose, Lilith.
I stared at the words.
He's going to lose.
And then, a second text bubbled up on the screen, making the phone slip from my fingers.
Don't go down with the ship.