“You’re sure Angel is safe?” Kass murmured.
Was I sure? I didn’t know. All I could do was guess and hope for the best. But to calm Kass’s nerves, I nodded.
He shot me a cynical glance. “Good. If you don’t have the decency to tell me where she is, at least you’ve given me this.”
If my hands were free, I might have slapped him for being so stupidly obtuse. Instead I settled for a snarl. “And what, Kass? I tell you where she is, you go find her and putherin chains, too?”
Kass looked horrified. “No!”
“That’s what you did to me. Why would she be any different?”
“I didn’t put you in chains,” Kass argued.
I rolled my eyes. “Okay, fine. Youfoundme in them and refused to take them off me. Great distinction.”
I expected Kassius to continue arguing with me, but instead he paused. After a silence he said, “What are we doing, Halo? What’s the point of all this?”
I stifled the urge to groan. I was in a desperate situation and here he was getting all deep and philosophical on me.
“Well, I don’t know about you,” I began, “but I’m trying to get out of these chains and go live my damned life.”
“Without Angel?” Kass asked sharply.
Anger and frustration welled up inside me like a dam about to burst open. It was all I could do not to scream at Kass.
“Yes, without Angel,” I snapped. “Because she’svaluableto your fucking friend. We both are.”
Kass drew back with a shocked widening of his eyes. “Valuable?” The way he muttered the word made it clear it was bitter on his tongue.
“That’s what Silas said. We’re valuable to him. And since he’s a weakling, I’m assuming he’s not alone. He must be working for someone else. That’s why he keeps skulking around like an anxious weasel, keeping me in chains but not actually doing anything to me, and constantly disappearing.”
With a worried frown, Kass ran his hand through his hair and stared at the floor, his eyes flicking back and forth in thought. “Something’s not right,” he muttered. “There was no talk of you beingvaluableby any means back when we tried to capture you.”
“Gee, thanks.”
Kass was too concerned with his train of thought to acknowledge my sarcastic remark. He paced back and forth, making the ancient floorboards creak.
“What changed?” he asked out loud, gesturing with his hands. Suddenly, he turned back to me. “Silas isn’t telling me the truth. I’m sure of it. I don’t know what he’s up to - or if it’s even malicious or not - but I don’t like that he’s keeping secrets from me. The Commander is gone, and I’m his Captain. There’s no one else left. Who is he reporting to if it’s not me?”
I shrugged. I knew nothing about the Knights’ social order except that Kassius was supposed to be the second-highest ranking guy, and Silas was just a dumb underling.
Kass stood firmly in between me and the door, as if torn by choice. His fists clenched and he shut his eyes with a heavy sigh. I watched his every move, wondering what he would do next.
Suddenly, he turned to me. I jolted to attention at how fast he moved. With a frown of displeasure, he furrowed his brows and stated firmly, “Halo Fire-Eater, I do not trust you. I will never trust you again after the atrocity you committed. But something strange is going on here. I don’t trust you, but I don’t trust Silas, either. The Knights were supposed to be about justice and truth. What have we become?” He raised his head and threw his hands in the air, and spoke as if to the gods. “Life’s now a game of who I trust the least, isn’t it?”
Keeping my head low, I remained still and quiet, not sure of where Kass was heading with this outburst.
Finally Kassius lowered his hands and sighed. “I’m going to find out what the truth is. And to do that, I need your help.”
Did I hear him correctly? I sat up straighter. “Me?”
“Yes, Halo.”
Meekly, I lifted the chains. They jingled. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Kass, but I’m kind of in handcuffs here.”
Kassius wasn’t in the mood for my jokes. He stormed to the old wooden table on the other side of the room and began rummaging through everything. When he found nothing, he tried the squeaky drawers. With a growl of frustration, he asked, “Where’s the damn key?”
I sat up even straighter. Kass was trying to free me?
