Theo shifted in his seat, declining to grace any of us with his attention.
“Miss Reeves, we were just discussing Colonel Scott’s future with us.”
I chanced a quick look at Lucas. His mouth was set in a hard line.
“Does that mean hehasa future with us?” I asked.
Williams tilted her head back and forth. “It depends.”
“On what?”
“Many things,” she said, “but we have some items to discuss.”
I eased into my chair, sweaty palms gripping the armrests like I might fall.
“First, I’d love to hear your side of things,” she said. “I’ve heard Harrison’s, and now I’ve heard Scott’s. Let’s see if you have anything to add to the narrative.”
Lucas’s scorched-earth glare didn’t bother Williams, but it had me chewing on my lip. “Me?”
“You.”
In my silence, she set her clasped hands on her legs and waited. Afraid of what I might give away, I stuttered out the most basic form of the story I could, emphasizing the positive impact Lucas effected not just on the Defiance, but on me.
I went to him expecting horror. He proved me wrong at every turn. I fell in love. He saved my life. Several times.
When I finished, she nodded, digesting. “Fascinating.”
“Um… why is it fascinating?” I couldn’t help but ask.
“Have you ever readRomeo and Juliet, Miss Reeves?”
I blinked at her.
She crossed her legs. “The recklessness and drama, the forbidden love. It hits all the right notes.”
“All the right notes for…what?”
Williams smiled, then abruptly changed the subject. “Scott here states he still has information to give us.”
“Yes…” I glanced his way, though he ignored me.
Her brow perked. “He’s offered it in exchange for your safe relocation to the refugee camp.”
“What?” I snapped, glaring at Lucas. “No.”
“I told him you’d say that,” Theo said.
Williams’s keen gaze intensified. “I declined his offer. I don’t feel that is the best place for you.”
I tried to reason through her strange tone, but couldn’t figure it out.
“She wants you where she can use you to control me,” Lucas said, sharper than a razor.
Williams smiled like his anger amused her. “He hinted he has a path across enemy lines. He hasalsohinted you are the only thing of any importance to him. Are you familiar withquid pro quo, Miss Reeves?”
Eyes wide, I reached blindly for Lucas’s shoulder. I’d nearly forgotten this detail, the piece of information I’d withheld from the Defiance because it meant compromising Lucas’s position. Lucas knew how to get us to DC, and now that he’d escaped the Hunters, yielding that information held no risk.
I’d concealed it to protect him, and now it might be the thing that saved his life.
