What if he didn't survive? What if she lost him like they lost Adelle?
“He's alive.” Kira said it every time the fear came. She needed it to be true, or she wouldn't make it through this fight.
After dressing, she left with the officer and met a man wearing a uniform with stripes and badges that meant nothing to Kira except that he must have been high ranking.
“Major Tyndale,” he said, a scar pitting the side of his neck. His dark hazel eyes carried the kind of hardness she needed right now.
“Who are we meeting with?” she asked.
“Two generals.” His look softened. “I'm sorry about Zayne. We're doing all we can to gather intel. I don't know anything other than what you and Brock reported.”
She clenched her teeth to keep from crying. “Thank you.”
The major led her into an office that reminded her of the day she saw Mom and doomed them to all that came next. Two generals stared back at her on the screen hanging from the wall, a man and a woman. Aside from a table in the middle of the room, there was little else. As nondescript and utilitarian as the High General's conference room.
“Kira Stiles,” the woman said. “I'm General Roul. We're glad you made it safely.”
“Are you?” She lifted her chin. “You tried to kill me.”
A quiet sigh. “We're still glad you made it. No one wanted to make that decision.”
“Who made it? Was it you?”
A flicker in her eyes. “Yes. It was me.”
The United was supposed to be better than the Phaedra, but the apathy in Roul's eyes reminded her of the High General.
Kira's look shifted to Major Tyndale. “Then why should I trust you to help me bring Zayne home?”
“Because no one wants Zayne Riven more than we do,” the female general said.
Kira's brow raised. “I can think of one person who wants Zayne Riven way more than you. If you think you're the most motivated, then you don't understand what's about to happen.”
The male general leaned forward. “What, exactly, does that mean, young lady?”
“It means I'm the only one who knows the passcode to the intelligence Zayne left for you, and you're not getting it until he's here with me, alive and well.”
Quiet pulsed. “We're doing everything we can,” he said. “Zayne is invaluable, but that intel can't arrive soon enough.”
“Neither can Zayne.”
“Caspador is under attack,” the man said. “You could save thousands of lives, maybe tens of thousands.”
Kira narrowed her eyes, refusing to listen, because this was her only leverage. “You can, by saving Zayne from the Phaedra.”
“We're going to, but we need that intel now,” General Roul said. “We won't take no as an answer.”
Kira worked closer. “I looked into the eyes of the Phaedra, and I told him no. I didn't relent when I lay covered in blood for three days. Do what you will and see how well that works for you.”
“Do you really understand what you're saying?” the woman asked.
“He left behind his country, his family, and his entire life to bring me to safety. I won't abandon him with the Phaedra. You won't either because he sacrificed everything to help you win this war.”
“How are we supposed to break him out of the Phaedra's tower?” Roul asked.
The truth of it. Kira didn't doubt that they desperately wanted Zayne and would expend a great amount of energy to free him, but they wanted that intelligence he offered the most. They'd take it in his place. “Send an army if you must. The Phaedra is obsessed. This will hurt him. You can finally control the narrative. Attack with everything you have and free the man who gave so much to you.”
“She's right,” Major Tyndale said. “No one knows the Phaedra and High General better than the Riven children. Imagine the statement it makes for Zayne to betray them. This could shape a generation of kids who will see the future High General turn away.”
