“Fine,” Patro said.
“Only that q-question,” I said. “Please.Promise?”
Patro tipped his head back, muttering a prayer to Kronos. When his eyes met mine, they were blazing.
“I promise, Alex.”
Eye twitching at the nickname, I stepped aside.
Patro rolled his eyes as Ceres cowered, but he asked, “May I touch you?”
Ceres nodded quickly.
With surprising gentleness, Patro bent down to her level, placing his hand on her dirty shoulder.
The whites of his eyes filled with crimson. “Have you assisted Theros inanyway?”
Ceres opened and shut her mouth, lips trembling, as she wheezed like she couldn’t breathe.
Tears streamed down her dirt-streaked face.
Patro frowned. “Answerthe question.”
“No,” Ceres croaked, the sound unnaturally scratchy; her vocal cords were ruined.
She turned her face away like she was trying to crawl into the marble wall and disappear.
For a long moment, Patro said nothing as he towered over her emaciated form—he dropped her arm and stepped away.
“She’s not lying,” he said reluctantly.
Helen and I sighed with relief.
Patro’s eyes sharpened as he glared at me. “Itdoesn’tmean she’s innocent—some people are experts at deception. Maybe she hasn’t assisted him. Maybe she was theleaderof the entire operation? You can never tell—I want to question her. Extensively.”
I stepped back in front of her. “Youpromised.”
Patro clenched his fists. “Alex,” he said, his jaw working like he wanted to say something else.
I held his gaze. “Leave.”
Patro backed away from me and turned to Achilles, signing rapidly, “That bastard almost killed her, and this bitch probably helped—we can’t let them free her. It’s not safe.”
I swallowed down the urge to argue.
Can’t you see she’s suffering? She’s not a threat, you heartless bastard.
When the men had forcibly taken me and Charlie from Montana, back to Sparta, we’d agreed to hide that we knew sign language from the others so we could collect information. It felt safer that way.
It was getting harder to hide that we could communicate, but I was glad for our subterfuge, because it meant I could understand moments like this.
Achilles looked back and forth between me and Patro. “You promised her,” he signed slowly. “If you want her to trust us, you can’t change your mind.”
Patro swore viciously. He rubbed at the back of his neck.
Wait, why do they suddenly care what I think?
“You questioned her. Can we all go to bed?” Helen whined. “I’m tired.”
