We told him about the Avery lookalike who had set the bomb. “That makes sense,” Luc said. “Rocco says he thought the Saxons might have been in Jerusalem. They’re so secretive now, only a couple of their crew ever goes with them, so he didn’t know for sure.”
We all turned to stare at the phone. “Rocco says?” Stellan asked.
Rocco—whom we used to call Scarface until we recruited him to our side and learned his real name—was our very own double agent in the Saxon home. He’d broken my mom out of captivity, and he claimed to not have killed our friend and mentor Fitz like we thought he did—I guess Cole Saxon actually did that himself—but we still didn’t fully trust him.
“I called earlier and couldn’t get ahold of you,” Luc said defensively. “I was worried. I wanted to see if he’d heard from you.”
“How do you even have his number?” Stellan asked.
“You all have been gone for a month. Somebody had to keep an eye on what was going on in London.”
“You’ve been talking to Rocco for a month?” Jack said.
“All right, I don’t care,” Elodie cut him off. “Anything else, Lucien?”
“Actually, yes,” Luc’s tinny voice said from the phone. “They are also saying you are conspiring with the Order.”
Jack’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline.
“They’re saying that you have been in league with them for a long time and that you were becoming a full-fledged Circle family to infiltrate more deeply,” Luc said. “Loads of people believe them. I have to admit, if I didn’t know you, I’d think it was a convincing argument.”
“What argument?”
“They say that they have proof that Avery’s mother kept her away from the Circle for a reason. They’re saying she was a member of the Order, too.”
I stared at the phone. “My mom? The Order? That’s ridiculous for so many reasons. If anyone here knew my mom . . .” I shook my head. “And anyway, all those assassinations being blamed on the Order were the Saxons. The Order probably doesn’t even exist.”
“They exist,” Jack said.
“So maybe they used to cause trouble for the Circle, but it seems like now they’re just a bogeyman.”
“Not to the Circle,” Jack said. “If they thought we did this because we’re power-hungry, that’s one thing. If they believe we did it for the Order . . . It’s like the difference between involuntary manslaughter and premeditated homicide. We have to get out of this city, now.”
Stellan was nodding along. He briefed Luc on what we suspected about the possibility of more attacks and told him to warn other families as well as he could without implicating himself, and then we signed off.
“Will it look more suspicious if we run?” I said. We did have some families on our side—maybe enough of them that we could argue our case. “Isn’t there anyone who would believe us that these Order accusations are ridiculous? The Rajeshes? Or we could get Luc to talk to his parents . . .”
“If the situation were different, maybe.” Stellan crossed to the window and pulled back the curtain a sliver to peek out. “But so much as mentioning the Order makes everything different. I think we have to let the Circle think we’re either dead or gone to ground until we’re safely out of here. And . . .”
“What?”
He dropped the curtain. “We’ve been looking to destroy the cure because we thought they wouldn’t release the virus without it. Obviously that’s not true.”
“They still did it in a very contained area. If they got the cure, it could be so much worse. Today doesn’t change the fact that we need to find it before they do.”
“I understand that. But what it does change is that we are in far more danger than we were hours ago. We have to be smart.”
This time, Jack was the one nodding his agreement. He sat on the edge of the bed, facing me. “Avery, I hate to ask, but we need the whole story. Are you absolutely sure your mother wasn’t . . .”
“Of course I’m sure.” Even if the Order was real, the thought of my scatterbrained mom being part of some group of counter-Circle agents was laughable.
Elodie was perched on the desk chair, her posture rigid, gnawing a thumbnail. I realized she’d been quiet since we hung up with Luc.
“Don’t tell me you believe it,” I said to her. “You know everything they’re saying is a lie.”
Elodie drew in a breath. “I don’t—”
“What is wrong with everyone?” I exploded. “My mom’s dead. Do we really have to accuse her of things?”
“Avery, trust me, I’m not accusing her of anything. In fact—” She shook her head, but then stood up abruptly. “I guess I have to tell you. I’m sorry.” She looked at each of us. “I didn’t want any of you to find out this way. I didn’t want you to find out ever, actually, but Jackie’s right—you need the whole story.”
The room was silent. “What are you talking about?” I said.
Elodie crossed her arms over her chest and looked at Stellan, who had pushed off the window where he’d been standing, then at Jack, who had gone rigid on the bed. “Promise me you’ll stay calm and give me a chance to explain.”
Stellan took a step forward. “Elodie . . .”
“Okay. Yes. It’s true that Avery’s mother was in the Order. And I know because I am, too.”
CHAPTER 7
The neon hotel sign blinked and buzzed out the window. Inside the room, we all stood, frozen.
“The Order’s nothing like what the Circle says,” Elodie added quickly.