Screw it. They might both end up dead anyway. “She saidamaia’te.”
Kalie jolted back. She shook her head rapidly, then stopped and touched her fingers to her parted lips. “She—she really said that?”
“She did.”
A pitiful screech pierced the hall, and Zane’s fists clenched. Kalie shivered violently as her gaze drifted towards the scream.
“What about the rest of my family? Theron and Lida and the others? Are they okay?”
“I don’t know. Your mother didn’t sound upset, so I think they’re fine.”
Kalie exhaled softly. “Thank the gods.” Frowning, she flicked at a spot on his jacket. “Is that blood?”
“I’m telling you, it’s nothing too major.” Zane stretched his legs out, and his breath seized as the bruises on his chest pulled.
She gave him a shrewd look, and Zane sighed. “Apparently, the stunt I pulled in the throne room pissed off the Feds.”
“Do you mind if I…?” She removed a tiny vial from her pocket and squinted. “It’s okul salve, I think. Selene slipped it to me.”
“You sure it isn’t poisoned?” The promised relief of okul salvemade him shrug his jacket off anyway. It wouldn’t do anything for the bruises, but it would stitch up the cuts. “What happened between the two of you?”
Kalie shrugged. “Nothing. She came to the chapel, told me to come with her if I wanted to see you, and dragged me down here. She didn’t say anything else.” She drew her lip between her teeth as she gazed down at the vial of salve. “I think it’s her way of absolving herself of guilt. Or trying to.”
A blood-curdling scream blasted down the corridor, raising the hair on Zane’s arms and rattling the grates. Kalie huddled into herself. The noise sputtered out, but a louder cry rose like thunder, and cruel laughter followed.
“You should go,” Zane mumbled, though the thought of her leaving left him hollow and aching. “Leave the salve with me. It isn’t safe here. I can’t protect you.”
“I didn’t ask you to.” Kalie uncorked the vial, and the minty scent of okul salve wafted into the musty air. “I meant what I said during training. I don’t need your protection. I can make my own decisions.”
“And if that gets you killed?”
“That’s my choice.”
“That isnotyour choice!” Zane lurched to his feet, hissing as pain seared through his ribs and jarred his bones. He stormed to the edge of the cell and shuddered at the muffled cacophony of grunts and groans beyond. “I’ve failed so many times?—”
“Stop comparing me to Lysa,” Kalie snapped.
Zane whirled around. “I didn’t…”
She glared at the bloodstained wall. “We all make our own choices. She chose to save you. I chose to turn myself in. You chose to come after me.”
“Because you shouldn’t have come in the first place!”
“They have Ariah. Of course I came. And now that you screwed up my deal with Iliana, they might kill her!” Kalie’s cheeks flushed as her chest rose and fell rapidly. “I didn’t come here to argue, but I want you to listen. We’re willing to take risks for those we care about. I won’t leave anyone else behind to die for me. It’s no different from what you’re trying to do.”
Zane sagged against the rusted bars. She had a point. He’d come back for her because he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if she died.
If Lysa had left him behind, wouldn’t she be the one drowning in guilt?
Had that been her choice?
Kalie gestured to the bench. “We have five minutes until I have to go, and I intend to spend every second with you. So sit down, let me put the salve on, and stop wasting our time arguing about what can’t be undone.”
“So demanding.”
Her lips twitched.
Shuffling across the cell, Zane dropped onto the concrete slab. He tried to peel off his bloodstained shirt, but his shoulder blade cramped. He hissed through clenched teeth.
