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“I won’t see Cecily under Dr. McCrae’s knife. Do you know what it was like to watch the others—to watch you—being wheeled into the clinic? That’s not going to happen to my baby.”
“I don’t think there’s a chance of that happening with Camille. She’s in love with your daughter whether she admits it or not. She’s also a trained soldier. The safest place for Cecily is by her side, just as the safest place for your sister is beside Connell.”
Kenna pursed her lips. “Camille doesn’t love Cecily. She denied it.”
“You read people far too well to believe that. You want my advice? Put her to the truth serum when she’s healthy, confirm her words, then give her a tranq gun and train her as a bodyguard.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“Kenna, I agree with her,” Mòr said gently.
“I don’t care. She’s not going near my daughter ever again. That’s final.”
“Will you tell her who Camille really is?” Lila asked.
“Yes.”
“Will you tell her all of it?”
Kenna’s expression finally softened. “No. Her heart is not the point.”
Mòr’s boots tapped quietly upon the floor as they waited for Dixon and Connell to join them. “The purplecoat looks good on you, Lila.”
“Someone threw out my gray one. I guess it’s hard to mend a bullet hole and bloodstains.”
“You could keep that one. Connell still wants to offer you a job.”
“Is that so?”
Mòr’s lips twitched. “I told him not to bother. He’d only waste his time. You like hiding too much to let anyone see you, especially the gods. Now that you’re starting to believe in them, you don’t like being on their radar. You find it intrusive. I don’t think you want to linger on our compound if you don’t have to.”
Lila shifted in her chair. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You know exactly what I’m talking about.
You’re always welcome here, even though I know you don’t want to stay.”
The door opened before Lila could respond. Olivier shuffled into the room, his face a swollen mass of red and purple bruises, his steps drawn short by his ankle chains. He glared at Lila as Connell pushed him into the metal chair in the room’s center. “Should have put another bullet in you,” he sneered while Dr. McCrae slipped into the room.
“No, you should have aimed better. Or at least fought better.” Lila snorted. “You’re the only person I’ve ever beaten in a fight, and I was shot while I was punching you. Congratulations on that honor.”
Connell attached Olivier’s ankle chains to the chair legs, then did the same with his wrists and the armrests. “You’re going to answer some questions for us today.”
Olivier spat in Connell’s face.
Connell punched Olivier in the jaw, a dull smack that echoed in the concrete room.
The Italian panted in his chair, turning his chin into his shoulder. “I thought you people in the Allied Lands prided yourselves on being civilized.”
“You’re not in the Allied Lands, asshole. You’re with the oracle children. We follow the old ways. You’re not much a spy if you haven’t figured that out by now.” Connell straightened to his full height and backed to Mòr’s side. “Thanks for the excuse, though. I’ve been looking for a reason to do that since yesterday. I’ll be looking for an excuse to pull my gun after we’re done.”
Olivier narrowed his eyes. “Barbaro.”
“That word doesn’t even begin to describe me.”
Mòr put her hand on Connell’s hip. “Not before we get what we need. Their trials will come after.”
“Trial?” Olivier scoffed.
