Page 91

“For what?”

His sigh is quiet, but irritable. “Securing our position. Reestablishing networks. The Veinwardens have operated in fragments for years.”

The answer tells me nothing I couldn’t have already guessed. My patience, worn thin after days of isolation, finally snaps.

“Stop treating me like I’m an idiot. I might not speak your language or understand this world, but I’m not stupid. Something has changed. Everyone has been on edge all morning. I deserve to know what’s going on.”

Now he does look up. “Why?”

The question catches me off guard. “What do you meanwhy?”

“Why do you deserve to know what we are doing? You’re not part of it. You’ve made it clear that your only interest is returning to your world.”

“Because I’m stuck here! Whatever happens is going to affect metoo! Because I’m the only one who broke your binding and got you out of that tower. You said you’d help me. Youpromised!”

“And I will.” His voice is maddeningly calm compared to mine. “But the Veinwardens share operations on a need-to-know basis. Your immediate need is to learn the language, not insert yourself in things you don’t understand, and won’t care about once you’re back in your world.”

My fingers curl into my palms. “So that’s it? I just sit in the corner with Mira while you plot and plan? For how long? Days?Weeks? Until you decide I’m useful again? While you choose what scraps of information I’m allowed to have?”

“You misunderstand the situation.”

“Do I?” My voice is flat. “From where I’m standing, it looks like you’re perfectly happy to keep me in the dark. You needed me to escape the tower, but now I’m just another problem you’re trying to manage. Why is that? What are you hiding?”

“That’s not?—”

“No? Then explain to me how we’re supposed to find me a way home? What’s the plan? Because you haven’t mentioned itoncesince we first got here. You’re too busy doing … whateverthisis!” I wave toward the maps, my hand shaking. “And I’m supposed to trust that whatever you’re doing is right? You tell menothing. For all I know, you’re planning to burn cities or wipe out entire families. I wouldn’t know the difference.”

He straightens. His expression doesn’t change, but the air shifts.

And I step back before I even think about moving.

“Finding your way home requires understanding why youwere able to break the binding in the first place. That investigation continues alongside Veinwarden operations.”

“Investigation?” The word is sour in my mouth. “Whatinvestigation? You haven’t asked me a single thing about it. You won’t even acknowledge my presence unless someone else looks at me. You speak in riddles and send me to Mira like it’s enough … like I’m something to keep busy while the grown-ups work!”

“The binding that held me was designed to be unbreakable.” His voice is calm.Toocalm. “Understanding how you affected it takes time. Care. This isn’t a problem solved by impatience.”

“My entirelifewas taken from me. You think I care about yourprocess?”

He doesn’t respond.Nothing. That’s what makes me want to scream.

“I’m not asking to be part of your precious operations. I just want to know what you’re thinking. What you suspect. Is that really expecting too much?”

“The truth is thatI don’t know. I don’t know how you broke the binding. I don’t know why you were drawn to the tower when others weren't. I don't know how to send you back.” His voice doesn’t rise, remains the same calm, quiet level, but there’s a weight to it now—a wall going up brick by brick. Shadows slither along his hands, coiling in sinuous lines over his wrists. One disappears beneath the edge of his sleeve. “The magic that brought you here wasn’t meant to reach past this world. You were never supposed to be touched by it.”

“Then tell me what youdoknow. Stop treating me like I’m some helpless child who can’t handle the truth.”

My brain is screaming for me to stop talking. I ignore it.

“‘I don’t know’ is your default answer for everything. I’m stuck here, and all you can say isI don’t know. You told me you’d help me. But you haven’t tried. Not once!”

The air between us thickens as my voice rises. The temperature in the chamber drops, then rises again in a disorienting wave.

“Do you think I’m hiding something from you?” His tone isn’t raised, but there’s a bite to it now. A shape moves over his throat, rising from his skin—a snout, an eye, a curved spine. Then it flattens again and disappears. “You think I have a secret tucked away? That I’ve been waiting for the perfect time to tell you how to go home, and I … what?” An eyebrow hikes. “Just decided not to bother? What possible reason would I have for that?”

“I don’t know!” My voice cracks on the last word. “Maybe you kept it from me because you knew I’d walk away. Maybe you're not the one running from danger. Maybe youarethe danger. Maybe they were right to lock you away.”

He goes still. Not calm,still. Like a snake coiled and ready to strike. “I told you everything you needed to know.”