Page 29 of The Tree of Spirits
“Know what?”
“About you.”
“What about me?”
“About your magic.” He met my gaze. “You didn’t get your magic from the spirits. You’ve always had magic.”
My jaw dropped. “How…”
“I’ve known since Shadow Fall,” Kato told me. “You pick up spells far too quickly for someone who’s only had magic for a few days. It’s like second nature to you. Intuitive.”
“Oh. Wow.” I blinked at him. “You’re pretty smart.”
“I know.”
His confidence made me laugh.
“You could have told me,” he said.
“That I’m a freak?”
He took my hands, holding them there, between us. “You are not a freak, Seven.”
“Then what am I?” I asked. No,pleaded. I was desperate for answers.
He gave my hands a squeeze. “You’re someone worth knowing.”
“Thanks.”
“You can thank me by trusting me. Whatever is going on, whatever trouble you got into today. I can help you.”
“You already have,” I replied. “But like I said, some secrets aren’t mine to tell.”
“Someone was there with you in the Park,” he guessed. “Someone besides you and that scruffy Scavenger and his dog.”
I really had to tell Conner to come clean with what he was doing. Kato would understand. Sure, he played the perfect Knight, but he knew that sometimes you had to break the rules to do the right thing. After all, he’d lied to the General to protect me.
“Hey, that scruffy Scavenger is called Marlow,” I laughed. “And he’s a good man. He helps people.”
“You went into the Park to rescue him.”
“Yes.”
“You can’t save everyone, Seven.” He said it like he was speaking from personal experience.
“Maybe I can’t save everyone, but I can try,” I replied. “I thought that was the point of being a Knight.”
“Being a Knight is…” His eyes drifted upward as he searched for the right word. “…complicated.”
“Because of all the politics?”
“Yes.”
“That’s why I’m ignoring all the politics,” I declared.
He snorted. “I wish it were that simple. But there’s so much more to being a Knight than saving people and showing off your magic. You can’t ignore the politics forever.”
“I can sure try,” I said stubbornly.
