The Ends of the World (The Conspiracy of Us #3)(72)

I knew then that I couldn't tell Stellan how I felt. Take care of each other. Take care of each other. It echoed in my head. It wasn't like I thought he was in love with me, too, but I knew he did care about me. Anything I told him would just make him feel even more guilty about leaving when the time came. Better to let him believe I was happy with our temporary "hobby."

My phone rang. I forced my attention back to the present. "Hi, Lydia," I said, unsurprised.

"I have your blood." I wasn't sure whether I should be more worried or less at how calm she sounded. "Plenty of it."

"The Circle knows what you did," I countered, unable to keep the triumph out of my voice.

"And some of them even believe it," Lydia said.

"We've won, Lydia," Stellan cut in. "We'll make the rest of the Circle believe us now that we have you on tape. They will no longer let you get away with this." I hoped that was true.

"Hello, Avery's fake husband-but maybe real boyfriend?" Lydia mused. "There has to be some reason you'd risk your life for his sister. Poor Jack. How does he feel about being relegated to third wheel?"



       
         
       
        

"What do you want, Lydia?" I said, avoiding Stellan's gaze. We drove over the river. The Paris streets were even more empty than yesterday, only a scattering of people waiting to cross at the light in front of Notre-Dame.

"You're welcome for not hurting your sister, Avery's boyfriend. I'm not the monster my sister says I am."

I don't know what I'd expected Stellan to say, but it wasn't a quiet "Thank you."

"So I'm calling to tell you," Lydia said, "that this is your fault. Things were going to be fine, but by turning the Circle on us, you've ruined everything. Now I have to clean it up, and that annoys me. I hate having to resort to threats. It's so crass."

"Threats?" I said. Anya whimpered and pulled her hand away. Stellan must have squeezed it.

Lydia sighed. "The only way to ensure our family's safety-and therefore the whole Circle's, like I tried to tell you-is to have the Circle behind us. They were getting there rather well on their own, but now that's changed and we've got to give it a push. Since we know this virus infects anyone with a trace of Circle blood, we could wipe out half a city with a snap of our fingers. And the Circle knows it. So now, if they don't cooperate, their people pay."

Stellan made a strangled noise. "Lydia-" I said.

"The Circle will see eventually that this was the only way. They'll thank us. But until then, you've made us be the bad guys, and I really wish you hadn't."

"Lydia! You don't have to-"

"Good-bye, Avery."

• • •

"How are they doing it?" I said the second we reunited with Jack and Elodie. I tossed my bag onto the table in the Dauphins' sitting room and threw myself into a chair.

The Saxons had made their threat to the Circle. Bow to their authority, or have your territory obliterated by the virus. So much as a hint of interference from us or anyone else and they'd pull the trigger immediately.

"I suppose they'll make up some kind of treaty that everyone will have to sign, giving them full control over the Circle. They've called a meeting for tomorrow evening, giving the families a day to get everything together. They haven't said where the meeting is yet, except that it's somewhere in Europe," Elodie finished before I could ask.

"There's no way the Circle will sign that," I said. The Circle only cared about the Circle. About their own family, in particular, and their power. They wouldn't give it up to save the lives of regular civilians. 

No one argued with me.

I squinted at the morning sun through the window. We'd been in Russia and flying all through the night. At least we'd gotten a few hours of sleep on the plane. I rubbed my forehead. I couldn't stop thinking about talking to Lydia. How does a girl-someone so much like me-turn into this?

Stellan came back into the room. The Dauphins' nanny was still here, caring for Luc's orphaned baby brother, and Stellan had taken a few minutes to get his sister set up in another one of the rooms in the nursery.

"So if we can't stop the release of the virus," I said, "we'll have to stop the virus from killing people. We have the vaccine. How fast can we get it out?"

While we were in Russia, the science team had confirmed that the theory about my blood being a vaccine was true.

"The problem is scale," Elodie said. "Because of its regenerative properties, a single drop of the virus diluted in millions of gallons of liquid would still be lethal."