Atsadi shot Kai a wide-eyed look. His lips silently formed a question.Attack?
She put a finger to her lips. They hadn’t been noticed in the shadows yet, and Shadi would likely kick them out if she did.
“This was Usti Rising Moon,” Misae White Spirit said.
Inola Rising Moon stiffened. “We cannot know if my son had anything to do with this.”
“You would protect him even now?” Misae asked. “Many of the lower caverns are waist-deep with water, and we’re cut off from several of our mines—the pathways have become impassible.”
Inola turned to a Shadow Water female. “Is it as bad as she claims?”
“Sections of the stonework have been deliberately damaged—large cracks have splintered through the channels, and vital supports have been smashed.”
Shadi stepped forward. “The end result being?”
“A shortage of fresh drinking water,” the female began, to everyone’s dismay. “The healing pools will dry up. We won’t be able to get water to the beasts in the upper chambers. Key areas have flooded, and as the waters rise, we won’t be able to rescue anyone currently trapped. If we don’t act fast, parts of the infrastructure could collapse.”
Kai’s mind went immediately into warrior mode, and she strode into the firelight. “We need to secure the area around the aqueduct and set up further patrols to guard other vulnerable sections.”
Atsadi arrived at her side. “I can coordinate a team to assess the damaged infrastructure.”
Shadi, brows raised, silently took the two of them in. Kai knew her mother struggled between admonishment for eavesdropping and accepting their help. She also knew there was no time to deal with the former—not with their entire way of life on the line.
Shadi finally gave her assent. “Go. Speak to no one about what you have heard in this room.”
Kai and Atsadi exchanged a look, then bowed their heads to the Grand Matriarch before taking their leave.
Outside, Kai seized Atsadi’s arm. “Did you know this would happen?”
“No, Kai— Believe me or don’t, but I only wish to protect our clans. I never once believed him capable of something this devastating.”
Kai dropped her hold, suddenly cold. “You knew Usti would dosomething, though, didn’t you?”
His mouth drew into a thin line. “I didn’t know what or when. I’ve been trying to gain his trust, and I thought it was working.”
Kai had warriors watching Usti’s every move for weeks, but he was too good. All of them were.
“You should have reported this,” Kai said. “You should havetoldme.”
“Usti was already wary of my relationship with you, and to be honest, your distance lately has helped… If not for that, I never would have learned that Usti is the least of our concerns.”
Kai sank into her rear foot. “What do you mean?”
“He’s talking to someone on the outside. Someone who has a much greater desire to see our people fall. I’ve been trying to figure out who that is.” Atsadi gripped her upper arms and bent closer. “I swear on the life of my entire bloodline, once I learned a name, I had every intention of reporting them all to you.”
But he didn’t, and that was the problem.
“I thought I was helping,” he said.
“You could have helped me by telling me what you knew and trusted me to handle it. You should have left Usti and his men tous. I should reportyour actions to my mother—she’ll have our union annulled, and we’ll finally be rid of you.”
Atsadi drew back two steps, his mouth falling open, though no words came out.
“I will leave it to Fala to decide,” she said, “because, despite everything, she still wants to see the good in you. She wants to trust you.”
His mouth clapped shut, and he nodded. “She doesn’t trust me anymore?”
“She knows you’re Usti’s friend and his men—” The cold rage she’d felt for weeks on behalf of her wife rose once again. “His men spit on her in passing. They call her a whore and a bitch, and they push her into walls.”
