A muscle twitched in Jacin’s jaw.
“Sorry I misjudged you.” Kinney lowered his arms and hooked his thumbs over his belt. Jacin didn’t move. “I know you care for her more than any of us.”
When the silence stretched painfully thin between them, Cress asked, “So … she’s alive?”
Kinney glanced back at her and nodded. “I told her to go into hiding. As far as I know, everyone else still thinks she’s dead.”
Jacin sounded like he had sand in his throat when he asked, “Did she look all right?”
Kinney’s lips curved with amusement. “I’d say she looked a lot better than just all right, but then you’d probably shoot me after all.”
Frowning, Jacin lowered his gun, but didn’t put it away. “So you saw her. That doesn’t explain how you saved her life.”
“Jerrico was there too. I guess he knew about the queen ordering her to be killed. He wanted to kill her and drag her body back here, so I shot him.”
Though he tried to sound nonchalant about it, Cress heard his tone waver just a bit.
“Did you kill him?” Jacin asked.
“Yes.”
They stood in a face-off for a long time before Jacin said, “I hated that man.”
“Me too.”
Jacin’s muscles slowly began to unwind, though his expression was still suspicious. “Thanks for telling me. I’m … I’ve been worried about her.”
“That’s not why I’m here. I came to warn you. We saw a royal podship out there that shouldn’t have been there, and I’m willing to bet it’ll be traced back to you. If I figured it out, she will too. The queen might think Winter is dead now, but she’s going to find out the truth soon enough.” He paused. “Who did she threaten to kill if you didn’t do it?”
Jacin gulped. “No one.”
“Yeah, right.” Kinney glanced at his weapons lying beside Cress but didn’t move to pick them up. “She ordered my little sister to be killed once, after I released a maid who’d stolen a pair of the queen’s earrings.”
Cress’s eyes widened. Jacin, however, looked unsurprised.
“Well, whoever it was,” Kinney continued, “you’re both going to end up dead if you don’t stop wasting time and get the hell out of here before Levana finds out you lied to her.” He turned to Cress. “Can I have my weapons back now? I have about five minutes to report for duty.”
After a hesitation, Jacin nodded and put his own gun away. He was still frowning as Kinney reclaimed his gun and knife. “Why are you risking your neck for me … again?”
“It’s what the princess would want.” Kinney crossed back to the door, careful not to bump into Jacin as he passed him. “Her Highness persuaded the queen to give my sister the maid’s position instead of killing her, so I owe her a lot.” He tipped his head toward Cress. “Whoever you are, I never saw you.”
Jacin didn’t try to stop him as he slipped out the door.
Cress’s heart was still hammering. “I’m glad you didn’t kill him,” she whispered.
“I’m undecided, myself.” His gaze slid around the room, evaluating what, Cress couldn’t tell. “We’ll wait until the wing is mostly cleared, but then it’s time to leave.”
She clutched the portscreen, both excited and terrified to be leaving her prison, and her sanctuary.
“Jacin, did Levana threaten to hurt someone, if you didn’t kill Winter?”
“Of course she did. That’s how she operates.”
Her heart cracked, for him, for Winter, for victims she didn’t even know. “Who?”
He turned away and started rummaging through a drawer, but she could tell the action was just to occupy himself. “No one,” he said. “No one important.”
Forty-Five
“Don’t they have any newsfeeds on this star-forsaken rock?” Kai grumbled, sliding his fingers along the base of the holograph, Luna’s version of the ever-present netscreen.
“We are in a dictatorship, Your Majesty,” said Torin, his arms folded as he stared out the window, toward the sparkling lake below. “Do you believe the newsfeeds would be reliable even if they had them?”
Ignoring him, Kai swiped his finger again.
He had sent a message to the queen that morning that the wedding would, unfortunately, have to be postponed if he wasn’t allowed to meet with his adviser prior to the ceremony, as his adviser was the one most educated on the vows and customs that would cement the wedding as a recognized political union.
Somewhat to his surprise, she assented.
It was a relief to see Torin again and assure himself that his adviser hadn’t been harmed, but that relief was matched with his growing frustration and restlessness. The queen’s broadcasting networks were his newest cause for complaint. They seemed to contain a whole lot of mindless drivel and nothing useful at all.
“I want to know what’s going on out there,” he said, flipping off the holograph. “I know it’s started. I know Cinder’s done something.”
Torin shrugged, somewhat apologetically. “I have no more answers than you do.”
“I know. I don’t expect you to. It’s just so frustrating to be stuck here when she’s—when they’re all out there! Doing … whatever it is they’re doing!” He joined Torin at the window and clawed a hand into his hair. “How can the people here stand to be cut off from the rest of the country? Without any media, they have no way of knowing what’s happening in the other sectors. Doesn’t it drive them crazy?”