“She isn’t upset with you,” he told Breda.
Aisling snorted. “On the contrary.”
Torin snapped his head to her as he dropped his arms to his sides. “Aisling.”
“She’s part of them, Torin.”
“The fact that they came after her says otherwise.”
Aisling’s nostrils flared. “It could be a trap for us.”
“It isn’t,” Breda said.
Torin glanced at her. “Why not?”
Breda swallowed loudly as she lifted her chin. “I learned about the Others from listening to the Fae. There was little knowledge of what the group did, but to listen to everyone else who spoke of them with reverence…it was something I wanted to know more about. My curiosity has gotten me into bad situations before. I never thought it would lead to something like this.”
“Go on,” Aisling urged in a tight voice.
Torin nodded to Breda when the Dark Fae looked at him.
“It didn’t take much for me to get recruited. I went to the meetings and was soon taken in. I didn’t believe everything I was told. I’ve heard enough sales pitches in my life to know when someone is trying to deceive me.”
Aisling scrunched up her face in shock. “And you still wanted in?”
Breda nodded. “The more I learned, the more curious I became. Sadly, my biggest vice is letting my curiosity dictate my actions. If that many Fae were going to the Others in droves, there had to be a reason.”
“You got in. Then what?” Torin asked.
Breda shifted her feet. “I’m not going to lie. I liked hearing how a united, strong Fae was the next step for us. However, if I ever brought up the fact that Fae were attempting that already with the Council, I was quickly shut down. After the second time, one of the soldiers took me aside after a meeting and told me that I was never to speak out like that again. I’ve run into some nasty beings before, but the soldiers…well, they’re different. As you saw at the pub.”
“That isn’t the first time we’ve encountered them,” Aisling said indifferently.
Torin cleared his throat. “How long were you in the organization before you learned about the Reapers?”
“Maybe a month,” Breda said with a shrug. “They brought it up very casually during a meeting. At first, I thought it was a joke. I soon realized the opposite was true.”
“What did they say?” Aisling demanded.
Breda licked her lips in a nervous gesture. “They said the Reapers were a scourge for the Fae, and that the Reapers and their leader, Death, were holding the Fae back from their true destiny.”
“And?” Torin pushed her to continue.
Breda looked at the ground for a heartbeat. “That Reapers were more powerful than any Fae, and it was because of you that the Fae decided to create the Others.”
“They didn’t create the first group,” Aisling snapped. “The Fae were a part of the first Others, but their goal was to destroy the Dragon Kings. That didn’t turn out too well, did it?”
Torin had been watching Breda closely. “What made you decide to leave the Others?”
“I learned what they did to the Fae who weren’t accepted into the organization.”
“You mean how they kill them and absorb their magic?” Torin asked.
Breda nodded woodenly. “The Six take their magic. That would’ve been me had I not been accepted.”
“We need a description of each of the Six. You said there were equal Light and Dark. What about male and female?” Aisling asked.
Breda answered, “One male, five females.”
Torin turned to Aisling. “I’ll take this information back to the rest. See if you can get anything else.”
“I’ll go. I need to cool off,” Aisling told him before she teleported out.
Torin swallowed before he turned his head to Breda. “Thank you for sharing all of that. We’re going to have more questions.”
“I assumed. I’ll tell you all that I know.”
“You sure you’ll share everything?”
She frowned, affronted that he would question her. “Of course.”
“I don’t think so.”
Her fear dissipated as her anger grew. “You know me so well that you can determine when I’m keeping something back?”
“You’re hiding something. Of that, I’m positive. I’ve not figured out what it is yet, but I will. If you’re a spy for the Others—”
“I’m not,” she snapped.
“If you are, things won’t go well for you.”
She lifted her chin. “I’m not a spy. I ran from them. You were there.”
“I’ve seen my share of betrayals, Breda. Some of them are so good that others have no idea what’s about to happen. You could be a very good actress, for all I know.”
She threw up her hands in defeat. “Nothing I say will convince you I’m not a spy.”
“Tell me what you’re hiding.”
She took a step back, wariness clouding her expression.
He held her gaze, refusing to let her get away. “Don’t bother trying to teleport. You won’t get anywhere. The veil is hiding you from everyone, but it’s also keeping you here.”
“I didn’t try to leave.”
That made him frown. The first thing a Fae did in a situation they couldn’t win was jump away. Why wasn’t Breda? Was she that fearful of the Others and their soldiers that it never crossed her mind?
Or was there another reason she didn’t teleport out?
Torin couldn’t help but wonder if she was a spy. It would be a tactic he would use if he were able. Put someone amid a bad situation so the enemy took her and attempted to gain her trust. Then she could attack from within. So far, neither he nor Aisling had said anything about the Reapers. Breda hadn’t asked, either. That could be because she thought she knew everything already, or she was simply waiting for an opportune time to ask.
“It’s better if you tell me what you’re hiding now,” Torin told her. “Don’t make me find out on my own.”
Her chin lifted in defiance. “I’m not hiding anything.”
With every lie she told, it eroded the fragile trust they had been building. Torin tried another tactic. “Tell me how, why, and when you left the Others.”
“I left today. I thought I would have a day or two to figure out my next move.”
“You didn’t have a plan in place before you left?” That knowledge didn’t sit well with him.
She shook her head. “I’d become more and more uneasy with the organization over the past few months. I searched for a way out but couldn’t find one. I was putting together an escape plan when someone else tried to leave. The soldiers hunted them down like an animal. They brought the Fae back and tortured her in front of everyone. I couldn’t take another minute. I knew it was only a matter of time before they realized that I wasn’t fully part of the organization as they wanted. Soon, I’d have to recruit more Fae again. I didn’t want to be responsible for any more deaths.”
Torin frowned. That admission coming from a Dark Fae was as confusing as a fish that didn’t like water. And it confirmed that she was definitely hiding something.