Page 31 of Down Comes the Night

“Fine,” she said through gritted teeth. “Why did your government report you missing? Does Lowry know who you are?”

With unmoved serenity, he said, “If you offer me something in return, I’ll answer your questions.”

Wren wanted to scream in frustration, had to clench her fists to keep from shaking him.Do you not want to find them? Does another war really mean nothing to you? Do you not still jolt awake from the nightmares? Have you ever cared about anyone at all?

As satisfying as it would be, an outburst wouldn’t help her. Wren willed herself to be calm. If she got his information, then hope wasn’t lost. With a new lead, she could pursue the investigation again. She could still prevent a war. She could still have justice for Byers—and maybe even find him alive.

She raked her hands through her hair. It had come loose in theirscuffle and hung in tangled waves down her back. As she knotted it back, she imagined speaking with all of Una’s authority and condescension. “Alright, Cavendish. You have my attention. What’s your price?”

“I want you to cure this disease.”

Exactly as she predicted. Hoping she sounded suitably affronted, she said, “You realize you’re asking me to commit treason.”

“I know.” He looked exhausted, defeat written into the slump of his shoulders. Blood still stained his lips, a red dark and vivid against his sickly pallor.

“How do I know you’re not lying to me?”

“On my honor—”

“Your honor? What honor?”

Frustration edged into his voice. “I swear it on your Goddess. Please consider it.”

His oath startled her. He’d said it before:please.But this time was different. It was so genuine, so vulnerable, something predatory shook loose within her and coiled tight in her gut like a viper. Wren wet her lips. “You’ll truly answerallof my questions?”

“Yes. Anything.”

Anything.Someone like him might never crack under interrogation, but here he was, offering himself up to her. Treason or not, only a fool would pass up the opportunity. “Don’t get your hopes up. Until I know what the disease is, I can’t promise you anything.”

“Your effort’s enough.” He sounded so relieved. After a pause, Hal added, “Although if you’d allow me one more request, would you also fix what you did to me?”

“Why should I?” He deserved it, anyway. She couldn’t be certain how much internal damage she’d done, but even a strained hamstring would take weeks to heal on its own. “It’s my only guarantee you won’t attack me again.”

“I won’t.” Somehow, the weariness in his voice convinced her.

“Fine. I promise you a diagnosis for your illness and a functioning quadriceps femoris, for now. We renegotiate after that. Anythingelse?”

“That’s all.”

“Then it’s a deal.” Treason, sealed with four words.

While she’d always intended to cure him, saying it aloud made it all seem too real. Wren expected some rush of shame. An ominous parting of the storm clouds. But nothing happened. She supposed she should be more concerned with how easy betrayal was becoming.

“Just keep your hands to yourself this time,” she added.

Wren approached him as if he were a caged animal: one creeping, measured step at a time. As she slid into the bedside chair and the last of her adrenaline faded, it set in how much everythinghurt. She guessed that her pectoral muscles were strained, if not torn. Mottled bruises, a deep goddessblood purple, were already beginning to bloom on her swollen wrists and creep toward her elbows.

That brute. He’d have torn her limb from limb had his own body not shut down. Hatred burned steady as a flame in her chest. Right now, she wanted nothing more than to sink into a hot bath and soothe away the ache, but a deal was a deal. One way or another, she would have answers about her missing comrades. First, she had to—

“I’m sorry,” he said.

Wren froze. “What?”

From the corner of her eye, she watched his gaze wander over her mangled arms. “I’m sorry for hurting you.”

Laughter bubbled within her stomach, and her eyes nearly watered at the effort to contain it. He wassorry? After all he’d done to her people,thiswas what he chose to apologize for? He had to be mocking her. “Why?”

“I see no point to senseless violence, or in making enemies of those who’re helping me.”