Page 33 of Broken Fate
“Then why the heck would I do what you just said?”
“One, to be blunt, because what the fuck else are you going to do? But two, because we need every person we can get, and we can’t spare anyone to watch over you. So, you’re going to join us.”
“Or what?” I said with a hint of challenge. “Are you going to kill me?”
Andi stared silently.
“Calli damn you,” I swore, shaking my head. “What a recruitment speech you’ve got there.”
The other woman grinned broadly. “I know, right? It’s effective, too.”
“Not effective enough,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m not swearing anything. Not without an explanation, without answers. I’m tired of not having enough information. That’s going to change. I still don’t know if you’re actually good guys or just another faction of assholes who I haven’t realized are evil yet, like Arcadus and his ilk.”
Andi tilted her head sideways, evaluating my response. “Fine,” she said after a double heartbeat. “Let’s get you that information.”
She spun in place, marched out of the bathroom, then pulled open the door to the hallway. It stayed open.
I put the towel down, chewing on my lip.
Was it truly what I wanted? After all, what if I were wrong, and Kiel, Andi, and the otherswereevil?
Which side ordered your parents' death? Which side whipped you and tortured you? Which side came to your rescue not once but twice? Which side sent someone in here to ensure you were okay (albeit in their own strange way)?
There was no comparison when I looked at the actions of one side to the other. If I had to choose, then it wasn’t a decision at all.
I followed Andi into the hallway.
“Smart choice,” she said. “Now, follow me. It’s time you learned the truth.”
Chapter Seventeen
Andi led me into a rectangular room with blank walls and a large, circular table in the center, surrounded by chairs.
On the table were platters of food.
Ignoring everyone else, I went straight for the snacks. Slices of meat disappeared into my maw, snapped up into tiny bits with sharp, firm bites. Bread soaked up the saliva and other juices before making its own way down my throat and into my stomach. The sharp tang of various kinds of cheese was added to the mix, and I even snagged an apple, biting deep into it.
Only as I paused to finish it did I realize no one else was partaking. I looked up, meeting both Kiel’s and Clive’s eyes, who, along with Andi, were the only other people in the room.
“Uh, am I not supposed to …?”
“We already ate,” Clive said when Kiel didn’t immediately respond. “Help yourself.”
I did. At some point, the food started to reach my stomach, and I slowed down.
“I’m sorry,” Kiel said as I washed everything down with some water.
My muscles tightened as reality came crashing in, courtesy of that strange compassion Kiel seemed to show at the oddest of times.
By the time I looked up and into his eyes, the gentleness had left them, leaving only the cold blue circles that were normally there.
Whoareyou? And why are you so reluctant to let others in?
Kiel had his secrets, and judging by how Clive and Andi glanced at him for a split second, he wasn’t telling them either. Just what had he been through to create such a hard exterior? That he still hadsomecompassion showed a strength of personality that I doubted I could ever fully understand.
“Why areyousorry?” I asked. It hadn’t sounded like a generic “I’m sorry for your loss.”
“For not being able to save them,” Kiel said tautly. “Your parents, I mean. I didn’t expect Arcadus to act that swiftly after your escape. We were preparing to extract them, but he must have had his men dispatched the morning after you left. There just wasn’t enough time.”
