Evalle swept a look over her shoulder, then back at Tristan. “Will he follow us?”
“I don’t think so. The two times I saw him he was always running in one direction and only stopped once.”
“What made him stop that time?”
“His pitchfork buried in my chest.”
Was Tristan joking? No. There were three holes in his shirt. “What’d he do after his pitchfork got stuck?”
“Yanked it out and took off running again.”
“And you healed.” She put her hand over her stomach. That might not be so bad except for getting skewered. “Wonder what he died of?”
“His head hangs to one side like he fell and broke his neck while he was chasing whoever he thought had stolen his pigs.”
“Is that the worst thing down here?”
“No.”
Of course not. “Then what is?”
“Knowing what’s down here will only make you jumpy, expecting everything to be a threat.”
“Just once, I’d like a straight answer.”
“I’d like to live a normal life,” he said. “Maybe you’ll get a straight answer when I get what I want.”
In other words, never, but that wouldn’t detour her from trying to get as much out of him as she could. “Explain to me why Kizira wants you?”
“She doesn’t wantmeso much as what I am.”
“What are you that I’m missing here?”
“I told you. A Belador Alterant.”
“Really? You’re the one who keeps saying you aren’t a Belador,” she pointed out.
He made a grinding sound in his throat. “Fine. I’m an Alterant with Belador blood. Does that make it easier? Did you ever try to track down your father or pull your birth records?”
“No, I know it’s a dead end.”
Tristan shook his head. “You haven’t even tried to trace your roots to find out your blood background, when you’ve been free to do so. And you say you really want to help all Alterants. Sure.”
He paused at a crossing in the tunnels only long enough to make a right turn into another endless walk with the same outdoor look.
She stiffened at the censure. “Unlikeyouand most of the world, I can’t go out in sunlight. I’m bound by my vows to do my duty, which includes being on a VIPER team. I’ve been doing everything I can on the Internet, but nothing on me shows up. I only have so many ways and time to search.”
“I understand—”
“Really? I don’t think so.” She stopped and waited for him to turn around. “If we were a recognized race, the Tribunal would have to give us the same rights as everyone else. That’s what I wish you’d realize.”
“Not going to happen, Evalle. We’d have to be accepted into a pantheon. Who would take us? Macha?”
“I don’t know.” If she had all the answers, she wouldn’t be stuck in the middle of this maze. “But I’d like a chance at life where I don’t have to constantly dodge getting locked up. You can’t just run, Tristan. Look what happened here. You had nowhere better to take three Alterants than to an underground tomb. How are they going to be safe anywhere else when they weren’t down here?”
“You keep expecting me to put my trust in people like Brina, who screwed me in the first place, and the Tribunal, who don’t give a rat’s ass about any of us.”
“I trusted you to bring me into a place I have no way to leave without your teleporting me back out. I did it because I want to find a way to helpallof us. Show me a little faith by sharing what you know.”
