Page 178 of Silver Elite

“No.”

I don’t care that our conversation is being recorded, that we’re being watched. Touching the prisoner isn’t a standard interrogation technique, but I still squeeze his hand as I sit in front of him.

“I just got here,” I say. “They said Tana is at the inn. She’s okay.” I hope.

“Have you spoken to her?”

The question has a double meaning. When I shake my head, I know he understands that her link is closed. It’s going to be impossible to have this conversation with everyone listening. There are too many things I want to say and can’t.

“It’s over,” I tell Griff.

Surprise flickers in his eyes.

“Whatever you guys are doing here, it can’t continue. We’re going to find the tunnel.”

I say “we.” But he knows I meanthey,or at least I pray he knows. I pray he trusts me enough to believe I would never betray our side.

“I got my captain to promise that if you give us the information we need, you and Tana won’t be harmed.”

His loud snort reverberates off the walls. “Yes, kid. I’m sure the General is going to let a couple of suspected network cell operatives waltz out of here.”

“No. But his son is willing to deal.”

His bushy eyebrows soar.

“Captain Redden,” I clarify. “He’s out there right now. And he gave me the authorization to offer you a deal. It’s a real one. You know I would never screw you over.”

I squeeze his hand again.

“It’s not a trick. It’s not a trap. I just stood out there fighting on your behalf. But if you don’t help them—us,” I hastily correct and hope nobody noticed the slipup, “they’ll send both of you to the Tribunal. And you know the Tribunal’s favorite sentence is the firing squad.”

I see the pain in his eyes. He knows what his daughter is, and he knows what will happen if it’s revealed that she’s Modified.

“Labor, huh? You think I want my daughter slaving away in a salt mine for the rest of her life?”

“At least she’ll have a life. Please, Griff. Cut a deal. Tell us how the Uprising operates here in Hamlett. In Z Ward. Give us the location of the tunnel they use to smuggle the Aberrant, and I promise you, your life and Tana’s will be spared.”

“Wren!”

Her voice slices into my head so abruptly that it catches me off guard.

For a second, I’m unable to hide my surprise. The last time someone linked without me explicitly allowing it was when Wolf thrust himself into my mind as a child.

“Are you okay?” Griff asks, frowning.

“I’m fine.” I swallow the lump of fear in my throat. “Sorry, I was just thinking about Tana. I don’t want anything to happen to her, Griff. And the only way it won’t is if you talk to me.”

“Wren! I need you.”

Chapter 40

With telepathy, sometimes it’s hard to interpret someone’s exact emotions. Yes, you can pick up on tone depending on how hard you’re concentrating, but you might lose nuance. What you hear doesn’t always translate into what they’re feeling.

There’s nothing lost in translation right now.

Terror and despair.

That’s what Tana is feeling.

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