Kildare awoke about sunset. Everyone else, he assumed, was still asleep—at least, no one was in the living area when he stumbled out of his bedroom, and rhythmic snores came from beyond the closed door of Snitch and Fir’s bedroom.
Serene wasn’t back yet.
Kildare pushed away the sickening churn of his gut as he slumped at the table, head in his hands, trying not to turn over and over the mistakes of the past few days in his head.
It surprised him to realize, beyond his worry over Snitch and Fir and Serene, that he missed Mock. Missed her fiercely. He rubbed the charm bracelet on her wrist. Despite her nervous habits, despite her superstitions, she’d always been a steady mind for him to bounce ideas off of. Someone like a little sister to him.
To think that for years, she’d hidden the fact that she’d had a child from him... Kildare shook his head and pushed Mock from his mind. He rubbed his forehead between his eyes. The next move was to switch out the stone for the one that Serene would make from whatever materials she found that matched the texture and other features that Fir had noticed. They wouldn’t be able to do that at Oak’s house, however—he had no doubt that the Alfaren would step up security after letting Fir go.
He wasn’t sure what alerted him to Serene’s presence this time, when so many other times, she’d managed to sneak up on him. But he turned just a split second before she appeared in the doorway, undoing the tight braid of her hair.
“Oak’s moving,” she said quietly.
“What?” He stood. “How do you know?”
She shrugged, still not meeting his eyes. “I decided to fly over his house, double check for any signs of Fir. Is he back yet?”
Kildare nodded and motioned for her to go on.
The tension eased from Serene’s shoulders. “I saw them packing a wagon, and got close enough to hear one man say that they were heading out tomorrow morning.”
Kildare frowned. “How did you manage to fly close enough to overhear them?”
Her lips twisted to the side. “Well...”
“You shifted and snuck up on them, didn’t you?”
“Maybe.”
Kildare winced. “That... I know it was information we needed. And thank you. But—you shouldn’t have taken that chance. Especially when no one else knew you were there.”
“I know. But it was spur of the moment, Kil, believe me. I didn’t go out with the intention of doing something like that.”
He raised an eyebrow.
She looked up at him. “I promise I didn’t.”
“Then what else did you go out for?” He smiled. Tried to keep his tone light, non-accusatory. “Other than to get away from Snitch?”
Serene unfolded her fingers, revealing a key.
Kildare’s heart leapt. “Is that...”
Serene stepped behind him. He felt her warm fingers on his shoulder. The key clicked into place in the back of the collar. And with another click, the collar sagged on his neck.
Kildare reached up and pulled the band away. He swallowed. His shoulders felt lighter. He stretched his neck from one side to the other, then rubbed the chafed skin at the base of his throat. His chest swelled. “How did you—”
“I went to Basalt and told him that you needed the collar off for our plans to work.” Serene stepped back around him, placed her hand on his chest.
“That’s it?”
She blinked, frowned.
Kildare winced. “I didn’t mean—”
“You sure?” Serene folded her arms across her chest, took a step back from him. “I took a risk for you. In fact, I’ve done nothing but taken risks for you. And in return, you make excuses for Snitch. You insinuate that I’m not being honest with you.”
“I told you I trust you.”
“But do you really?” Hurt shimmered in Serene’s dark eyes. “Every time there’s something that could be a problem, I see your hesitation. I see you stop, and look at me, and I see you going through the choices in your head, weighing and deciding.”
“And I always decide to trust you.” Kildare put his hand on her arm. “What more do you want, Serene?”
She flinched away. “I want that to be your first instinct. Not a decision you have to consciously make.”
The back of his throat was dry, and acid burned in his gut. Kildare swallowed. Serene raised her head and stared at him. What did she want him to say? He was trying. With his team falling apart before his eyes, did she really think this was the time to berate him about this?
Before he could speak, Serene sighed and dropped her arms to her sides.
“Is Fir back yet?”
“Not yet.”
“What should we do about Oak’s group preparing to move?”
Kildare rubbed the back of his neck. “It might be for the better. If we wait to try to steal the stone until they’re on the road, it’ll be easier. Security won’t be as tight. We can wait until they set up camp for the night, then sneak in and swap out the stone. I’m still working out the details.”
A ferocious grin spread over Serene’s face. “There’s my Kil.”
“If Basalt lets us leave, that is.”
“He’ll let us,” she said. “He wants that stone. I don’t think he’d suspect we’d try to doublecross him.”
Kildare lowered his voice. “Will we?” he whispered.
“It’s not a good idea.”
“But a stone that can sap ley, Serene,” he whispered. “Giving that to a crime lord...”
She winced. “No, that wouldn’t be good either.” She stepped away from me and pushed her fingers through her hair. “If we doublecrossed Basalt, that would be it. No more life in the cities for us, at least until we were sure we could shake him.”
“I know,” Kildare said quietly.
“We might be on the run for the rest of our lives.”
“I know that too.”
She turned, both eyebrows raised. “Are you sure this is something you’d want to do?”
“Basalt is bad enough without ley, Serene. What do you imagine he’d be able to do if he had access to ley again? And he was a sapper, to boot. What if the stone gives him sapping abilities again?”
Her mouth pinched into a thin line, and she shook her head, crossed her arms over her chest. “Sappers aren’t all evil, Kil. People just think they are, but there are some who abstain. Who live without ley so they don’t steal the life of others. Not trusting of a sapper is just as bad as being scared of a shifter if you’ve never met one.”
Kildare winced. Yeah, she’d called him on it. “You’re right. I’ve never met a sapper, but I believe you. But do you think we could trust Basalt with that kind of power?”
She paused for a moment, then shook her head. “Not a chance in hell.”
“Okay then. So what do you think we should do?”
“If we are going to take the felsic stone, it should be just between the two of us. We should keep Fir and Snitch out of it as much as possible. That way, there’s only us to worry about.”
Kildare swallowed. He hated that idea. Hated the thought of keeping this, another secret, from his team. He shook his head. “This situation came about because I couldn’t trust them. I’m not keeping a detail this important from them.”
Serene pressed her lips into a thin line. “I don’t trust Snitch.”
“I know you don’t. I don’t either. But I gave Mock a second chance.”
Serene rubbed her arms, regret and sympathy and irritation all crossing her face in the space of seconds. She sighed. “Fine. But if I see him step out of line even once—”
Kildare nodded. “We’ll get through this, Serene.”
Serene met his gaze. She stepped forward and leaned against him. Kildare hugged her to him, rubbing his hand in circles between her shoulder blades, feeling the tension in her slowly ease. She nuzzled under his chin, and he bent his head, pressing his lips to her temple.
He could work with this. They had a purpose. They had a direction. Now he just hoped they could survive until this ordeal was over.
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