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“Every time a gun’s been pointed at him, he hasn’t responded well.Yet, he was sitting in the circle of light, eyes watering, surrounded by armed guards, like he didn’t have a care in the world.No tension.Maybe a little annoyance.
“I think he’s just sitting in there, waiting to see what we’ll do next.Why else say nothing to you for hours?By sending everyone away, he had the perfect opportunity to run, chained or not.Yet, he didn’t.That proves he’s staying here by choice.”
“Do you think he wants to help us like he said?”
“I don’t know.He said some crazy stuff out there.It’s a little hard to believe fey are real even when I’m staring at his pointed ears and unique eyes.
“But there was something that made complete sense to me.We don’t trust each other.Trust needs to be earned.We’re never going to earn his trust by keeping him in chains, which means, at some point, we’re going to need to trust him enough not to murder us when the whim strikes.”
Patrick made a non-committal noise and stared at the table for a drawn-out minute.
“Time isn’t our friend,” he said eventually.
“No, it isn’t,” I agreed.
“Any ideas on how to earn trust fast?”
“That would take a leap of faith from one of us.”
“You want me to remove the chains.”
“I want you to ask yourself if those chains are even doing anything to restrain a guy who crushed what is essentially a mini-cannon with his bare hands.I think everything he’s doing is a test to see if we’re worthy of his trust.”
Patrick swore under his breath and stood.
“Take over for Mateo on the roof,” he said before walking out the door.
Tiredly, I stood and followed, missing the good old days when nighttime was for sleeping and not keeping watch.
From the new vantage point of the roof, I saw Patrick leave the barn a while later.No one else emerged from the barn as the night progressed, though.If Molev were free, wouldn’t he want to move around to test the limits of his freedom?I would.Did that then mean that Patrick had left him chained?
As the sun rose, I watched Roni head to the barn with two more MREs.The image of Molev mouthing her fingers as he’d done to mine popped into my head, and I felt a thread of concern.Roni wasn’t the patient type.I shook my head, dislodging the thought.They’d be fine.Molev was smart.He had to know she’d punch him in the face for trying that.
Sid came to replace me, and I paused to stretch out when I reached the ground.My gaze kept drifting to the barn.
Too curious to stay away, I went to check on things.We all had a vested interest in the outcome of this mission, and if Molev was still in chains, I would try to find another way to build his trust in us.We needed him and the information he had.
Inside the barn, Roni and Ted lingered near the door, watching Molev from a respectable distance and not interacting with him at all.They glanced at me, but I paid them little attention, focusing instead on Molev and the fact that he wasn’t chained.
He looked up from his intent study of the two MRE bags he held.
“Good morning,” I said, already closing the distance between us.
“Good morning, Andie,” he said.“Is one of these yours?”
“Uh, I don’t think so,” I said, glancing back at Roni.
She shrugged.“He’s a big guy.I didn’t think one would be filling.”
Molev looked down at the packages again, his gaze flicking between descriptions printed on the fronts of both.
“Having a hard time deciding?”I asked.
“I cannot read your language.”He held out both bags.“What do they say?”
I looked up into his eyes, understanding he was returning the trust Patrick had given him, and offered a smile in return.
“Cement floor dining isn’t the right setting for,” I glanced down at the bags, “beef ravioli or lemon pepper tuna.How would you like to eat at the table with me?”
