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“I’m dangerous, Mouse. I’m simply not dangerous to you unless you give me a reason.”
“What counts as a reason?”
“Handing me back to Isabeast.”
The corner of her mouth lifted. “That seems fair.”
She offered me more water. I took a few swallows before pulling away.
“I know your people are already searching for you,” she said.
“How do you know that?”
“At dinner, one of Father’s lieutenants reported that someone had traced a company tied to a chartered jet. An airport handler at Comalapa stopped answering his phone, and foreign security men have been asking about private flights arriving from the United States.”
“Nik.”
“That’s what Father thought too. He sent more men to watch the airport and the roads leading northeast.”
Satisfaction cut through the pain. Nik had found the trail.
“How much does that help?” she asked.
“Enough to put my people in the country and make Ciro nervous. Not enough to lead them to this compound.”
Disappointment flickered across her face, but she pushed it down quickly.
“I have something that might help us.”
She set the bottle aside and reached into the bodice of her dress.
My eyes followed. I was injured, not blind.
Color climbed into her cheeks as she drew out a small metal key.
The sight of it snapped every thought into focus.
“What does it open?”
“Your wrist and ankle restraints.”
“Mouse. Unlock me.”
Her fingers closed around the key. “This isn’t the escape—not tonight. I only need to know whether you can walk, and then everything has to go back exactly as it was.”
Her hand had begun to tremble.
“If anyone finds one cuff open or realizes you’ve been helped, Father will know someone inside the compound is working against him. If he discovers it was me, I won’t survive what he does next.”
“I won’t expose you.”
“I need you to promise you’ll let me lock you back to the chair.”
“You have my word.”
She stayed between my knees for another few seconds, staring at me as if trying to decide whether my word was worth betting her life on.
Then her gaze flicked toward the hidden door.
