No one else is watching him. Kael, Cami, and Arryn are all looking at each other as if trying to figure out his warning. But my gaze is locked with Ward’s, and it’s because of that that I see it. The blank façade vanishes for a split second, genuine emotion splashing across his face. Pain, horror, regret. It’s there and gone again in a moment, enough for me to know he is still in there, fighting Manning’s control. Enough for me to understand exactly what he just revealed, that perhaps it was more than he should have been able to say, that just maybe it was a warning from the real Ward to me—that it was the best he could offer, and he did what he could in the hope that I’d figure out the rest.

His gamble paid off. But if I correctly interpreted his words …

A wave of dizziness overwhelms me, and I have to brace my hand on the mattress beside his bound arm to keep from swaying on the spot. His eyes are still trained on mine, blank once more. The smirk on his face has only grown, as if he knows I alone comprehended the full scope of what he just gave away.

I ball my hand into a fist and remove it from the mattress, straightening my shoulders. My first impulse is to shake some answers out of him, but I know that will be no use. He’s not going to tell me what I need to know, not right now. Not with an audience.

“He’s just trying to mess with your head, Lyss,” Kael grinds out, settling on the most logical conclusion. “Pandora is testing the syringe as we speak—no doubt she’ll get back to us soon and say it’s nothing to worry about.”

“No doubt,” I echo, my voice only slightly croaky. I ignore the way Ward’s smug smile only grows.

This isn’t Ward, I remind myself. There’s no real humor, no dimple showing.

This is someone hideous, something hideous.

Kael places a hand on my back, and I’m so distracted by my growing dread that I jump.

“There’s no point in us staying here,” he says, his gentle voice so at odds with how he spoke to Ward. “Until he’s no longer under Manning’s control, we can’t trust anything he says. It’s late—we should go. A full night’s sleep will do us all a world of good, then we can come back with a fresh perspective in the morning.”

I nod automatically, trying not to show how desperate I am to leave the cell, to escape the claustrophobic room and the revelation that Ward just imparted to me—a revelation no one else noticed, no one else understood.

“See you soon, Six-Eight-Four,” Ward says mockingly.