Map of Fates by Maggie Hall Page B

thought you’d be a little happier to see me.”
    So it
was
on purpose. “Why did you do that, anyway?”
    Elodie drummed her fingers—the only part of her able to move freely—on the arm of the chair. “I was bored. Thought I’d stir up some drama.”
    â€œBe serious.”
    â€œYou seriously want to know why I’m here?” she said in her haughty French accent. “You could have asked
before
handcuffing me. As I said, I’ve been monitoring your conversations with Stellan. And I think I know things about your clues that you don’t.”
    â€¢Â â€¢Â â€¢
    We left Elodie cuffed to the chair, her long, slim legs crossed casually like she was just out for an espresso on a foggy evening. I’d texted Stellan and changed our meeting place, and now I raked my free hand through my hair. I hadn’t had time to dry it after I showered earlier, and it was tangling in the breeze as it dried. Soon, I turned around to heavy footfalls on the wooden pathway.
    â€œI heard what happened with Eli Abraham,” Stellan said. “Are you all right?” He looked over my shoulder and stopped short when he saw Elodie.
    â€œIf it isn’t the third wheel,” Elodie said, waving her fingers at him.
    Stellan turned back to Jack and me. “I’m assuming the light bondage isn’t recreational, so who’s going to fill me in?”
    I told him as much as we knew over the strains of a string quartet that had started playing at a nearby bistro. Stellan chewed his lower lip, then pulled up another chair and sat knee-to-knee with Elodie.“The Dauphins didn’t send you? You haven’t told them what we’re doing? If we untie you, are you going to hurt us or run?”
    â€œNo, no, and no.” Elodie rolled her eyes. “I wouldn’t have shown up here alone and relatively unarmed if I wanted to hurt you or your precious purple-eyed girl, okay?”
    â€œ
Relatively
unarmed?” I said, but Stellan leaned forward, elbows on his knees, and locked eyes with Elodie.
    â€œAre you telling the truth, El?”
    She didn’t flinch. “Yes.” Then she looked up at Jack with the same flat determination. “Jackie, you know I am. You have always been able to tell when I’m lying. And after tonight, I’d think you’d want as much help as you can get to stop the Order for good.”
    Jackie?
    Jack took the keys to the handcuffs out of his pocket. Elodie batted her eyelashes at him sarcastically, and I was struck by the feeling of being an outsider. I knew Jack and Stellan had history, but hadn’t really thought about how Jack would have known Elodie for half his life, too. And try as I might, I couldn’t picture him as ever having been a “Jackie.”
    â€œOkay,” I said. “But what’s in this for you?”
    Elodie flicked the bangs out of her eyes, and I wondered, stupidly, how she kept her hair so perfect. She was part Asian, and I didn’t think there was any way the platinum blond was natural, but it always looked freshly done.
    â€œWhat’s in it for me is that they’ll go after Luc eventually,” she said. “They’re hitting every other person who could be the One, in every Circle family. Maybe they’ve given Luc a reprieve since they already killed the Dauphins’ baby girl, but I don’t know. I’d rather stop them before they try.”
    I didn’t think she was lying.
    â€œAnd, of course,” Elodie went on, “everything that would come with finding the tomb, which I’m sure these two care about, too. Fame, fortune, acclaim . . .” The sarcastic note in her voice was back.
    Jack palmed the back of his neck and shrugged at me. He was willing to trust her.
    â€œFine,” I said. It was later than we’d realized, though, and it’d be a lot easier to search for clues while the basilica and the museum were