“I do,” Knox says. “She’s amusing, and she’s the only person who gets to make fun of you, which is a bonus. But when we werekidnapped, the rebels had her for a day, who knows what lies they spewed to her. Maybe they convinced her to join them.”
Knox waits a beat before he says.
“Every mission that failed, Haven was on it.”
“Not all,” I say.
I purposely sat her out when we were raiding the settlement. To prove, perhaps to myself, that she was innocent.
“That doesn’t mean I’m wrong,” Knox says.
“She’s a Common,” I say. “The regime does not hurt them. They are safe. She has nothing to fight for.”
This war is between the Gifted and the Untamed. Those that serve the Continent and those that reject it. The Commons had no stake in the war. The Bind was not made for them. It was rare for a Common to side with the Untamed.
“Perhaps, she wants to avenge her mother.”
I cross the space between us to stare into Knox’s eyes. He is a few inches shorter than me, but he doesn’t balk under my gaze.
“Unless you have hard proof, I recommend you shut your mouth,” I growl. “If you put her in harm’s way out of speculation, friend or not, Iwillkill you.”
Knox straightens, placing down his bag of chips.
“I would never bring this up to anyone but you,” Knox says. And I believe him. Despite his chatty nature, Knox knows when to run his mouth and when to keep shut. “She is my friend too. But it is our job to guide her if she has been led astray.”
“I don’t need to be reminded ofmyobligations,” I say. “I will handle Haven.”
Knox nods, and I turn my attention back to the room.
Haven will get me my answers, and then she’ll put a bullet in the rebel’s head.
She will prove that she is with us, withme. And Knox will get these foolish notions out of his head about where her loyalty lies.
My fingers tighten into a fist. I won’t lose her, not to the rebels, not to my father, not to anyone who dares come between us.
Because I know now with striking clarity that Haven Warrick has carved a place in my heart, and I will not let any harm befall her.
Not so long as I live.
chapter
forty-three
Haven
Idris is looking at me with a plea in his eyes. He looks terrible. His face is gaunt, and his eyes are hollow. This isn’t the lively boy who stood beside Prue in the safe house. A few days stuck in this place, and he looks like the softest wind will shatter him into a hundred pieces.
Pity strikes at my chest. I don’t know how I am going to save him. Ender and Knox are watching, and I can’t afford to fail.
“What are you hiding, rebel?” I question.
“I’ll giveyouthe name,” Idris says, slipping easily into the role. “As promised.”
He wants me to stop time. He wants to speak in private. The thought alone makes my stomach tighten. We’re in the heart of the Forge, the center of Ender’s twisted world, and just beyond the glass, I know he’s watching my every move. His eyes were filled with suspicion the second we walked through the door.
My heart aches at Idris’ pleading stare. I can’t deny him. Not even when it puts me at risk.
I raise my fist and punch him. The moment my knuckles brush his cheek, I freeze time, keeping him inside the loop with me. I have to learn a better way of doing this.
