I shook my head. “I’m sorry. I needed time alone after what happened.”
“I understand.”
From the corner of my eye, I saw Halo’s frown deepen. Surely he wasn’t enjoying this conversation any more than I was.
“But how - I’m sorry for this rude question, but how are you still alive?” I asked. “You shared a claiming bite with your omega, didn’t you?”
A strange expression crossed Silas’s face, quickly replaced by a decidedly neutral one. “Ah, well. You see, arrangements were made. It was all very practical. Don’t worry, Captain, I’ll fill you in later.” A few heartbeats passed before he said, in a strangely genuine tone, “It’s good to see you again.”
Not knowing what to say, I nodded.
“You must be tired. You look like you’ve travelled a great distance to be here,” Silas remarked.
“Not really,” I replied. I caught my tongue a moment before I spilled the fact that I was almost always fatigued nowadays. That was a weakness I wasn’t quite sure I wanted to share with him yet.
“Oh. Well, in any case, feel free to rest. There’s plenty of room in the cabin, Captain,” Silas said with a slight smile.
One of deference, I thought.
I glanced back to Halo, still crumpled in a miserable pile on the floor. The pathetic gaze he stared up at me with filled me with an uncomfortable mix of sympathy and disgust. He wasn’t acting like himself. The Halo I knew would have busted free from any chains long ago and burned down the cabin while he was at it. Now he was as meek and hopeless as a mouse trapped in a shoebox.
“What about him?” I asked Silas.
Silas shrugged with a grin. “Whatabouthim? He’s been captured - finally. Gods know it only took four centuries, but we did it, Captain.”
His mention ofwemade me remember something. “Commander Sterling… She shared a claiming bite with her mate, too, so unless you know something I don’t, then she’s been dead for quite some time now,” I said sadly.
The Commander was always a brave woman. Even though she held the belief that magic was to be feared and controlled, like the rest of the Knights, she was never quite as callous and harsh about it as Silas. At least, not until the very end. She’d finally given into Silas’s constant badgering to capture Halo when he proved that magicwastruly evil.
It filled me with sadness, knowing that the woman I’d looked up to for so long was dead.
“So she had no part in this?” I asked.
“Ah, no,” Silas said, like he was trying to let me down gently. “She wasn’t organized with… That’s a shame, about her passing. I’m sorry.”
I noticed the way he trailed off, but didn’t comment on it.
“Regardless, Captain, the omega won’t get away again,” Silas promised.
Why was Silas so sure of himself? Halo had eluded him -us- once. I wasn’t convinced he wouldn’t be able to pull it off again.
But presently, Halo didn’t struggle. He hung limply in chains, making no motion to gather his magic and free himself. There was no flicker of fire or fight in his eyes. Had he truly given up? The thought made me ill. It was like a pair of wolves hunting a sick, cornered rabbit. Silas seemed proud of himself, but this wasn’t a Knight’s victory. Something was wrong with Halo.
Silas pulled half a loaf of stale bread out from a pouch on his waist and seemed like he was about to throw it to Halo, but then he hesitated. With narrowed eyes, he asked, “Hang on. Where’s the child?”
Halo froze.
At the same time, my breath caught in my throat. “What?”
“The child!” Silas growled, rounding on Halo. “She was here before I left. What did you do?”
Halo turned his face to avoid Silas’s gaze. He didn’t speak.
Panic flaring, I rushed to Silas and grabbed his arm. “Silas, tell me what’s going on. What child? Was it mine?”
Silas tensed like he wanted to jerk his arm away from me, but he didn’t dare insult his Captain. He set his jaw and ground out, “Yes.”
“Angel washere?”
