Chapter 12: Secrets and Lies
"Why do you think the Zey'rans were behind it?" Orion asked, his voice low, eyes narrowing as he studied Valeria's reaction.
Valeria's breath didn't hitch, nor did she flinch, but her expression—so carefully controlled—shifted. It was the subtlest thing: the barest flicker of her eyelids, a fraction of a second's pause. To anyone else, it would have been nothing.
To Orion, it was confirmation.
Even Varun, ever observant, stirred at the realization. His brows knit together, eyes flicking to Valeria in confusion.
"I didn't say that," she replied evenly, but Orion caught the way she measured her words. "It's highly unlikely."
Not impossible.
Orion held her gaze. Valeria never lies to him.
"Then why do you sound unsure?" Orion pressed, his gaze steady, voice edged with quiet insistence.
She exhaled slowly, her gaze steady but shadowed with calculation. "Because I can't leave anything to chance," she said, her voice measured, laced with quiet steel.
"Whoever did this was either reckless or precise. If it was the Zey'rans, then a faction within my own family is willing to take a direct step against you. If it wasn't them, then the enemy could be even closer."
Varun let out a slow breath, arms still crossed. "That's a hell of a possibility, Lady Reyes," he muttered. "How are we supposed to know who did this, if we didn't even realize this was an assassination attempt?"