Tristan’s chest moved when he drew a breath. He groaned on his exhale, but he was still out cold.
Served him right for pulling that stupid stunt. Had he thought he could go airborne like an out-of-water porpoise and land on hard ground without having the air knocked out of him?
Of course, slamming him against the equivalent of a steel wall hadn’t helped either. Or the fact that he’d taken the brunt of the fall with her on top when he’d jumped out.
Had he landed that way intentionally?
Maybe, maybe not, but he no longer needed her now that he’d escaped.
But she needed him.
She tensed, ready for battle the minute he opened his eyes.
How had he gotten out of the spellbound enclosure?Worry about the mechanics of his jailbreak once he’s back on the other side.
She had three gifts from the Tribunal and no clue what they were other than she could not ask for a gift unless it was being used specifically to fulfill her agreement to return theotherescaped Alterants.
Technically, putting Tristan back inside his cage would not meet the criteria, since he would refuse to help the minute he was in captivity again.
Would have been nice if the Tribunal had given her an operation manual for her so-called gifts . . . one with a troubleshooting section.
Tristan groaned louder and rubbed his head. One eye slid open and peered over at her, then he pushed up on his elbow.
She kept very still, watching for any aggressive move. “How’d you get out of there?”
He smiled. “You broke me out.”
“No, I didn’t.” She hoped.
“Oh, yes, you did. Remember when I held your arm to take off that bug?”
“Yes,” she answered warily.
“I shoved my foot past the barrier while I was touching you and I broke through to my ankle, then it stopped me. I figured if I could do that while holding your wrist I should be able to push my entire body through if I was holding all of you.” He rubbed his head. “Wasn’t quite as simple as I thought. Damned near killed myself finding out.”
She was a dead Alterant the minute the Tribunal found out about this.
Tristan chuckled. “Looks like the worm has turned, eh?”
She wasn’t sure what powers he possessed or how strong he was out here, but as of now her powers were locked and loaded. “I don’t know about the worm, but your being out here puts us both on a level playing field.”
He stopped rubbing his head and looked at her. “You think?”
“You might kill me, but you’ll crawl away missing vital parts.”
“Fighting each other would waste time we could use finding those three Alterants.”
She paused. “You’re going to work with me?”
“Isn’t that what you wanted?”
Sure, but his easy compliance reeked with suspicious intent. “Why’re you willing to help now that you’re free, Tristan?”
“Let’s just say I believe you’re telling the truth about getting me an audience with the Tribunal. I don’t think you can corral the three missing Alterants without me, and I don’t want them killed. I’ll help you, but you can’t hand them over until I get to see the Tribunal.”
She’d offered torequesta meeting for him. She hadn’t said she could do it for sure, but mentioning that right now would not be the best way to move ahead with a potential alliance.
A shaky one she didn’t trust one bit.
