A soft sigh. “It wasn’t supposed to go down like that. I leaked Guy the identity of the guard, thinking he’d take me for the break-in and I’d show them evidence to prove the Cabal was a threat. But he cut Sonny and me out. Fortunately, we had a backup plan.”

“Killing Guy and impersonating him.”

“Oh, that was always part of the plan. Had to be. It didn’t work any other way.”

“You were Guy that night, in your apartment. It was Sonny the first time—taking me there to point out the evidence that you’d both been kidnapped, so I’d support the story for the others. But later, when I went back, you’re the one who showed up as Guy.”

He smacked his open palms on his thighs, setting his whole body rocking. “Yes! You knew it.”

“I didn’t—”

“No, no, you didn’t understand it, but you knew it. See, that’s what Sonny was afraid of. When we saw you and the werewolf in the apartment—there’s a camera, got it from Rodriguez with some other stuff, such a sweet kid, I really hated…”

His voice trailed off, then he smacked his palms on the floor, so hard I jumped. “Gotta be done, right? First thing you learn. You cannot hesitate. Anyway, the camera. We see you and your friend…”

Again, he faded. His gaze jumped to mine. “He’s in love with you, you know. Useless, of course. He has no idea what you need. Anyway, we figured out what he was when he waltzed out as a wolf. Cool trick.”

He said it with a mix of admiration and condescension, the way one might praise a child who’s learned a simple magic trick.

“So we see him and you and we figured out you weren’t who you said you were. Sonny thought you might be a threat. He wanted to get in there, suss out the situation, grab you or…” His fingers tapped against his knee. “Or something. I convinced him to let me go in as Guy, get you away from the werewolf and kidnap you if I had to, so you wouldn’t get hurt. Sonny didn’t want me doing it ’cause he thought you’d recognize me. But I knew it would be okay. You wouldn’t understand what was going on, but still, I knew you’d know it was me. Deep down, you’d know.”

He rubbed his hand over his mouth as if trying to wipe away his grin. His eyes danced.

“Remember that night on the building?” he said. “You understood that. What I was saying. About the Cabals. That’s what I’m talking about. What all this is about.”

“It wasn’t Guy selling you on his theories, was it? You weren’t listening to him; he was listening to you.”