Have an audience with Aali Immu himself? Wasn’t that what Thomas had always wanted? Yet for some reason, the thought disturbed him. Greatly. Everything within him wanted to scream. Instead he smiled and nodded.
“You can speak with Mr. Walker today if you wish, and I’ll go ahead and make the arrangements for your virtual meeting with Lord Aali tomorrow.”
I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
2 Timothy 4:1-3
Chapter 30
So, you think you can just come back here and resume your position like nothing happened?” Kyle slipped beside Thomas as he limped down the hall from Landry’s office.
“Good morning to you, sergeant,” Thomas responded, not even granting Kyle enough respect to stop and speak with him. “And that’s Vice Regent Benton to you.”
Thomas stopped at his office, entered, and attempted to shove the door shut.
Catching it with his crutch, Kyle followed him inside and stopped before his desk.
Thomas speared him with a sharp gaze before setting aside his cane and lowering to sit. “I would be careful if I were you on how you address your superior.”
“So, Landry didn’t fire you.”
Thomas's blue eyes turned to ice. “That’s Regent Landry to you, and no, but I can certainly put in a recommendation for your dismissal.”
Anger boiled in Kyle’s gut. “I know you’re lying about your loyalties.”
“And how do you know that?”
“Aaron was quite plain in his reports to Jura.”
“Ah, that makes sense. He was your Tall White’s spy.” Thomas flattened his lips as the slightest hint of unease flashed across his expression. “So, he gave you reports on us?”
Kyle blew out a snort. “The fact that you say ‘us’ implicates you.”
Thomas leaned back in his chair. “You have no proof of your accusations. Nor do I need to explain my actions to you.”
“Aaron told us how close you were with Tori, how you’d snuggle each night and whisper to each other, how you went out of your way to protect her, and how you made friends with the others.”
Thomas squirmed in his seat, ever so slightly, but Kyle had been trained to notice such things. “It’s what undercover spies do. Get close to their enemies. Or didn’t you learn that inguardschool. That is what you are, after all, just a guard who won favors with a Tall White.”
Kyle ground his teeth together until they ached. How he’d like to punch that smirk off Thomas's face. “A guard who not only caught you, but caught the great Calan Walker,” he retorted.
Again Thomas winced.Why?
“Listen, sergeant.” Leaning forward, Thomas folded fingers on top of his desk and offered Kyle a rare look of kindness. “We are not so different, you and I.” He glanced at Kyle’s crutch and chuckled. “And I don’t mean that we both sprained our ankles. I mean that we both are ambitious men, and from what I know, abandoned by parents and betrayed by friends.”
Now it was Kyle’s turn to squirm. The man was good. He knew how to fire a shot straight into the gut.
“It’s not easy for us to trust,” Thomas continued. “It’s probably why we’ve achieved what we have.” He smiled. “So, how about a truce?”
Kyle stood there for a moment, leaning on his crutch and staring deep into the eyes of this man he was sure was a traitor. No, he would not fall for his fake kindness. He didn’t get to where he was by being gullible.
“I will prove my suspicions, sir,” he said with scorn. “Just like I proved you helped Tori escape. And when I do, I’m going to take you down.”
???
Stomach tied in a million knots, Thomas shuffled into the interrogation room where Calan was being held. Talking to the man who had risked everything to save Thomas, getting him to betray his friends, his pregnant wife, and if not, send him to be executed, was the last thing Thomas wanted to do. Ever.
But here he was at Landry’s request as a condition of his own freedom. In fact, he could hardly look at the man as he shut the door and took his seat.What a complete jerk I am!
