Panic and hate gripped his throat. He knew what would happen if he told Elias. His brother would want them to run, and he wouldn’t be wrong. But centurions would hunt them. Petros’s guards would come for Ilena, and Danon, and Ava.
“It was nothing,” Madoc said. “Petros drank too much, that’s all. Half this party already thinks I had something to do with Stavos’s death; let’s not give them reason to question me more.”
“You’re lying,” Cassia said, pursing her lips. “If you think I don’t know it, you’re a bigger fool than you look in that costume.”
He pulled anxiously at his armor. He had to give her something. “Ash wants—”
“Ash?” Elias balked. “So we’re on a first-name basis now?”
Madoc ignored him. “She’s looking for gladiator records—champions who’ve beaten Kula and died of the plague. She thinks Ignitus has something to do it. If we found something, Geoxus might be interested. We could use it to bargain for your release.”
“Hold on,” Cassia said. “If she’s trying to commit treason, why would she tell an enemy gladiator about it? Use your head, Madoc! She means to trap you in some scheme—get you locked up or killed so she can secure Kula’s victory.”
It seemed possible when Cassia said it out loud. Maybe Ash had been lying to him all along.
Madoc shook his head. She’d stood by him in front of their gods. She’d found Stavos with him, and her shock at his murder had been genuine.
“She knows about me,” he said.
“I’d say she knows enough to get what she wants,” Elias huffed.
“Knows what?” Cassia was more pointed.
Quickly, Madoc explained what had happened with the guards in the arena—how they’d left Ash alone, and how she’d surmised that he wasn’t Earth Divine.
“You can control minds?” Elias asked. “What am I thinking right now?”
“It doesn’t work like that,” Madoc said. “Look, it was probably nothing. I just know she could have told Ignitus, and Geoxus, and anyone else that I’m Undivine, but she hasn’t.”
“Do you trust her?” Cassia peered at him the way Ilena did when she caught any of them in a lie, and just like with their mother, Madoc buckled.
“I do.”
“We’re doomed,” Elias said.
He had no idea.
Cassia glanced over her shoulder, into the hall. “Petros has a library at the house. It’s where he keeps all his tax records. I’ll see if there’s something there that can help.”
“No,” Elias said. “It’s too dangerous.”
“You’re right,” she snapped. “Maybe I’ll sign up to be a gladiator instead. That’s much safer.”
Elias winced.
“I have to go,” Cassia said, her jaw growing tight. Madoc followed her stare to one of Petros’s guards, stalking toward them, and fought the urge to step between them. That would only make this worse.
“Be careful,” she cautioned. “Be smart.”
“Watch yourself,” Madoc told her as she hurried away. He didn’t have to warn her what a monster Petros was. Based on her shoulder, and the way she’d flinched when Petros had mentioned the shackles, she already knew.
Madoc watched her go, hoping she’d be safe. Hoping she would find something, and that Ash’s suspicions had been warranted. If not, the fate of his family would fall to him.
He’d entered this war to save his sister. Now he’d have to win it to save them all.
Twelve
Ash
