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Chapter 17

Before we did anything else at work the next day, we found Selene. Jace and I had to put a reality into her head that she found the list of supporters, and was going to sell it to the highest bidder. And she was also having sex with my father to get information from him so she could blackmail him into paying her money.

After Matteo left the night before, I wanted to feel bad for him for what I'd done to Kat, but in a twisted way, I couldn't. I realized that while Kat may have been a sister to me, she was just a pawn to my father, a tool. I'd broken that tool, which would probably force his hand, but I was more powerful, and had more powerful allies, so he could bring it. He couldn't get to Jace, because Dad knew without Jace I wouldn't do anything. He also knew not to get to Theo, because it was obvious that Jace and Theo were now best friends. And if Jace was unhappy and uncooperative, then so was I.

Even if my father didn't want to admit it, I was at the advantage in this situation.

At home the night after talking to Matteo, I went out to the back yard and found the envelope I'd told him to leave there. It was full, at least five cds worth of information, and a couple of those other little things. Jace called them thumb drives. It was a wealth of information, and if I wanted, I bet I could have had the title "princess" thrown in with all the other things Edward had promised us.

"Hey," Jace stuck his head out the back door. "Matteo is here for dinner. Is that ok?" He gave me a conspiratorial grin.

"Sure, just give me a minute," I winked at him as I passed by to stash our newly acquired information in the bedroom. We'd be paying Philip a visit later.

Matteo painted us a picture of him calling dad last night, and telling him that he had to get Kat and fix her. Dad came over and did his best, but he said he couldn't. Matteo got up in Dad's face and demanded a divorce. Dad assured him he'd take care of it. I tried my best not to laugh at Matteo, it was obvious he was in pain, but he was taller than my dad, and had trained with the soldiers, so if it came to a physical confrontation, Matteo would win.

"Where is she now?" Jace asked as he sat his glass down. None of us were worried about speaking freely, Matteo himself had swept for the listening devices and disabled them.

"With Neil," Matteo sighed. "He's getting me the divorce. I mean, I'm only seventeen, and I love her," he looked at me, "I do. But what kind of life would I have?"

"I'm not blaming you, Matt," I reached over and clasped his hand. "If I were you, I'd do the same."

Matteo didn't stick around after dinner. I barely had time to erase the memory of him preparing the disks and putting them in the back yard. He was left with the memory that he'd monitored the computers all day, and nothing else out of the ordinary.

Philip was giddy over the envelope we handed him. I was waiting for him to dance around the house, but being a royal, he had the composure to barely smile. His eyes gave him away though, and we knew we'd be well rewarded.

He did let us off the hook after that, and let us know that now our exit strategy was being worked on. He also let us know that given everything we'd produced, we didn't need to try to sneak into the next meeting, but our exit would be sometime after that. Plans had to be made, it had to seem natural. It made sense, but I was just ready to be normal. To enjoy my husband, and not feel like I was constantly looking over my shoulder wondering who was listening to me now. Who might want me to be a weapon.

Before we left, Philip told us he did want us to continue to check in, to pass along anything else we happened to learn. Especially if my father seemed to be getting out of control, because above all else, he wanted to keep the three of us safe.