“She was the only one, other than you, who knew where I would be,” I added.

“Exactly. So, I reported her to the Court Guards. Hawke and Lincoln had already suspected her when they saw her leaving your suite one day. She’s being held at Court Guard Headquarters under heavy surveillance and in line for questioning. I’m so sorry I wasn’t there, Avery.”

“Holy Zeus.” I had no other words. Damian, Althea, and the woman from jail had all managed to infiltrate the “heavily guarded” Court walls. I wondered how many more Faction members were still hiding in the Court, waiting for a chance to strike?

“It’s okay, Montgomery. You’re safe now.”

Was I safe? Would this be the last time I had to go through this?

Carlo’s voice mail suddenly replayed inside my head again:

Avery, you have to run. The Court isn’t safe. You are in grave danger there. The Faction will find you and you won’t stand a chance against them. There are things that you don’t know—that I wouldn’t know if I hadn’t found your file in my father’s safe. Come to Seattle and I’ll show you. I’ll explain everything. But now you have to ru—

It now made perfect sense. As long as I was here, I wasn’t safe. At the same time, wouldn’t I be in greater danger outside the Court walls? I couldn’t tell who was a friend and who was an enemy.

“I know.”

Maybe he had heard what had crossed my mind or he could feel it in his heart—whatever it was, Vlad suddenly held my hand and whispered so low that only I could hear, “I know it’s hard. But if you don’t trust anyone, not your friends, not your family, then what’s the point?”

They both bid me good-bye and left. Right before Vlad closed the door, I called him. He stuck his head back in. “Thank you for saving my life.”

Of course, Avy.

I remained in the Court Hospital for three more days with both Lincoln and Hawke lingering. It was awful. I had missed the Christmas celebrations, and the hospital had been eerily quiet with everyone celebrating in the garden where the famous Oak of Dodona had already been decorated. With my current predicament, I couldn’t go anywhere. There were even two Court Guards standing outside my door at all times.