My grip tightens around the mug.“Why?”
“Because you’re going to be interesting.”
“Interesting how?”
“You’re not afraid of him,” she says simply.“I wanted to see why not.”
“Have you figured it out?”
“Not completely.”She takes a slow sip.“But I did just get here.”
I laugh to cover how exposed that makes me.Sava watches me for a beat, something like understanding, or maybe sympathy, flashes through her gaze.She pushes the second mug toward me.We sit in the silence for a while, the kind that would be uncomfortable with anyone else but isn’t with her.It’s weirdly safe.
“Can I ask you something?”I ask.
“You just did,” she says, the corner of her mouth betraying a smile.
“Okay, smartass.Can I askanotherthing?”
She nods.
“What isSpiderweb, really?”
Sava doesn’t flinch.She sets her mug down.“Why are you asking me and not him?”
“Because I want to understand it, his need to chase this.”
“Chase it?”Sava shakes her head.“He was raised in it, created because of it.One decision, and there was no other fate for him.”Sava studies me like she’s weighing something.“I’m sure to an extent he’s trying to protect you from the rotten he knows exists in this fucked up world.But more than that, he’s trying to let you keep your free will.”
“My free will?”
“The choice to stay.If you learn too much, that choice will be taken from you.”
“I want to know anyway.”
She comes around to sit across from me, close enough that I catch the thin scar near her jaw.She doesn’t blink when she speaks.“Cassius loves his knife.He cuts what the law can’t touch.They feed him intel, and he turns it into blood.”
“He works for the police?”
“No,” she says, her tone suddenly sharp.“This is much deeper than any one thing.Plus, Cassius doesn’t answer to anyone, except his brothers.”Her gaze flicks to my left hand.“And, well, you.”
Goosebumps rise on my arms.“And you?”
She leans back, expression unreadable.“I’m not part of this war.”
“You’re lying.”
Sava smiles, but it’s the saddest thing I’ve seen all day.“Yes.But my story is one for another day.”
I turn the mug between my palms.“Can I ask you something that isn’t aboutSpiderweb?”
She nods.
“I understand more than he thinks I do,” I say, choosing each word like a stepping stone.“Not everything.But enough.I don’t know how to tell him that without making it worse.He’s a man who hates not already knowing.”
Sava’s mouth tips, not quite a smile.“That isn’t a question.”
“You’re impossible.”
