Pawn (The Blackcoat Rebellion #1)(54)
Author: Aimee Carter

“Is that—” he said, staring at Lila. She grinned and waggled her fingers at him.

“It is. Turns out she’s alive,” I said, forcing a small smile. “She’s not exactly what I expected.”

“Can you leave now?” he said, and the hope in his voice nearly killed me. I gave him a quick kiss.

“Not yet. Knox is trying to get Greyson back by using

Lila as bait. Augusta is going to need one of us to stay, and Lila doesn’t want to.”

“Oh.” Benjy frowned, worry clear in his eyes. I rubbed his back.

“Aren’t you going to introduce me?” said Lila, flashing him a coy smile, and I scowled.

“Lila, this is Benjy, my boyfriend,” I said, and her eyebrows shot up the same way Knox’s did when he was surprised.

“Boyfriend? Is this a recent thing? Did Daxton let you break up with Knox? Lucky.” She sighed. “Not that I don’t adore him, but we’re, you know. Just friends.”

I shook my head. “You and Knox are still engaged, but Benjy and I’ve been together for a few years. We grew up in the same group home.”

“And he followed you here?” she said.

“I earned a VI,” said Benjy. “I’m Knox’s assistant.”

Lila let out a low whistle. “Congratulations. That makes you the smartest person in Somerset. Only two percent of the population gets a VI, you know.”

Benjy cracked a smile. “I know.”

He stayed with me as we waited for Knox to return, neither of us bothering to make ourselves comfortable.

He must have known what was coming, but at least he didn’t try to reassure me that everything would be all right. I held on to him tightly, not willing to let go. Especially not with Lila looking at him the way she was.

After what felt like hours, Knox returned. By then

Lila was dozing on the sofa, but the moment the door opened, she sat up, suddenly wide-awake. When I saw who entered behind Knox, I understood why.

“I see you’re not dead after all,” said Augusta. “Pity.

We paid all that money for your empty crypt.”

“I’m sure you’ll find use for it eventually,” said Lila, all traces of playfulness gone. “Did Knox fill you in?”

“Yes. It is a horrendous idea with more holes in it than I care to count.” Augusta glanced in my direction. “The servants will help you both clean up and even out your appearances before we do this. Cooperate.” She looked at Knox. “Make sure they’re both ready in an hour.”

“Of course,” he said, and without another word, Augusta left.

“Does this mean I have to bathe?” said Lila, and she was lucky Benjy had a grip on me, because I itched to wrap my hands around her throat and squeeze. Greyson could have been dying at that very moment.

“Yes,” said Knox. “And it’s about damn time. You’re disgusting.”

“No worse than you on an average day.”

She stood and flashed him an impish smile, and then she skipped into his bathroom like it was her own. Knox exhaled and turned his attention to me. “I’m sorry about this.”

“Don’t apologize,” I said. “It’s not your fault.”

“Yes, it is,” said Benjy, and I squeezed his hand.

“He’s right,” said Knox. “And I promise I’ll do ev- erything humanly possible to make sure you both remain safe.”

So I wasn’t imagining the risks after all. The game had changed, and my time was limited. “If—” I swallowed, unable to look at Benjy. “If they decide to get rid of me, don’t let them send me Elsewhere, okay? Even if you have to pull the trigger yourself.”

Beside me, Benjy stiffened, but I tightened my grip on his hand. I would rather have died here than be hunted like an animal.

Pain clouded Knox’s expression. “Kitty, I can’t—”

“Yes, you can,” I said. “You can and you will. Say it.”

He closed his eyes, and after a long moment, he nodded. “I won’t let them send you Elsewhere,” he said.

“Even if I have to pull the trigger myself.”

Benjy made a strange choking noise, and before I realized what he was doing, he let go of me and stormed into the hallway. I stood paralyzed, wanting to follow, but I couldn’t. As much as it hurt, letting him go now was the kindest thing I could do for him. At least then he would have time to prepare.

“Thank you,” I said to Knox. “Really.”

“Don’t thank me for promising to kill you. Thank me for doing everything I can to make sure it doesn’t come to that.”

I forced a small smile. “I will when all of this is over.”

Any hope I had left was fading fast, though, and I needed to start preparing myself for the inevitable as well, no matter how many promises Knox made. He couldn’t control the outcome, and neither could I. But we could both control the way I died.

Sometime during the month she’d been away, Lila had cut her hair above her shoulders, and the woman Augusta sent to even out our appearances cut mine to match. I’d never had it that short before, and my head felt strangely weightless. I could barely stop touching it long enough for her to put on what little makeup was supposedly necessary to hide any other differences between us. I couldn’t see them, and I doubted the public would, either, but Augusta was adamant. We had to look identical.

By the time a guard led us to the drawing room, Augusta was there with a small camera crew. As we entered side by side, dressed in the same soft gray sweaters and black pants, the reporters gawked at us. I kept my head down, too worried about everything else that was going on to bother with them. Would Augusta get rid of me as soon as the cameras stopped rolling, or would she make sure Greyson was safe first? Or did she know she could never control Lila and I was her only shot?

Was I going to die today or not?

I swallowed my questions as a member of the crew positioned Lila and me on either side of Augusta. The same crew member told me to cross my legs, and Augusta agreed. There had to be some differences between us so Celia didn’t think it was some kind of camera trick.

Once we were settled, Augusta handed us both cue cards to read. I stared at mine blankly, unable to sort out the words, but Knox knelt down next to me before the cameras started rolling.

“It says, ‘My name is Madison, and I have been working as Lila’s body double for the past three years,’” he said. “That’s all. Got it?”