left Serra. Maybe he had a hunch. I don’t know. He calmed down eventually, but I don’t think he’s even slept since then. Once, he hid me in a safe house in a village and was gone all day looking for information, for anything that could lead us to you. All he could think about was getting to her.”
So he’s infatuated. Wonderful. I want to ask more questions, like whether Izzi thinks Laia feels the same. But I hold my tongue. Whatever lies between Laia and Keenan cannot matter to me.
As I hunt through my pack for more food for Izzi, Laia takes a seat by the fire. Keenan follows. He looks thunderously angry, which I take to be a good sign. Hopefully Laia told him that we’re fine and that he can go back to being a rebel.
“Keenan will come with us,” Laia says. Damn it. “And Izzi—”
“—is coming too,” the Scholar girl says. “It’s what a friend would do, Laia. Besides, it’s not as if I have anyplace else to go.”
“I don’t know if this is the best idea.” I temper my words—just because Keenan is getting hotheaded doesn’t mean I have to act like an idiot. “Getting four people to Kauf—”
Keenan snorts. Unsurprisingly, his fist is clenched on his bow, the desire to put an arrow through my throat written all over his face. “Laia and I don’t need you. You wanted freedom from the Empire, right? So take it. Get out of the Empire. Leave.”
“Can’t.” I take out my throwing knives and begin sharpening them. “I made Laia a promise.”
“A Mask who keeps his promises. That I’d like to see.”
“Then take a good long look.” Calm, Elias. “Listen,” I say. “I understand you want to help. But taking more people along just complicates—”
“I’m not some child you’ll have to babysit, Martial,” Keenan snarls. “I tracked you here, didn’t I?”
Fair enough. “How did you track us?” I keep my tone civil, but he acts as if I’ve just threatened devastation upon his unborn children.
“This isn’t a Martial interrogation room,” he says. “You can’t force me to tell you anything.”
Laia sighs. “Keenan …”
“Don’t get your knickers in a bunch.” I grin at him. Don’t be an ass, Elias. “Just professional curiosity. If you tracked us, someone else might track you.”
“No one followed us,” Keenan says through clenched teeth. Skies, he’ll grind them down to nubs if he keeps this up. “And finding you was easy enough,” he continues. “Rebel trackers are as good as any Mask. Better.”
My skin prickles. Rubbish. A Mask can track a lynx through the Jutts, and such skill is won through a decade of training. No rebel I’ve heard of can do the same.
“Forget all that.” Izzi cuts through the tension. “What are we going to do?”
“We find a safe place for you,” Keenan says. “Then Laia and I will go on to Kauf and get Darin out.”
I keep my eyes on the fire. “How are you going to do that?”
“You don’t have to be a murdering Mask to know how to break into a prison.”
“Considering you couldn’t break Darin out of Central Prison when he was there,” I say, “I beg to differ. Kauf is about a hundred times more difficult to break out of. And you don’t know the Warden like I do.” I nearly say something about the old man’s chilling experiments, but I stop myself. Darin is in that monster’s hands, and I don’t want to frighten Laia.
Keenan turns to Laia. “How much does he know? About me? About the rebellion?”
Laia shifts uncomfortably. “He knows everything,” she says, finally. “And we’re not leaving him.” Her face goes grim, and she meets Keenan’s gaze. “Elias knows the prison. He can help us get inside. He’s done guard duty there.”
“He’s a bleeding Martial, Laia,” Keenan says. “Skies, do you know what they’re doing to us right now? Rounding Scholars up by the thousands. The thousands. Some are enslaved, but most are killed. Because of one rebellion, the Martials are murdering every Scholar they can get their hands on.”
I feel sick. Of course they are. Marcus is in charge, and the Commandant hates Scholars. The revolution is the perfect excuse for her to exterminate them like she’s always wanted.
Laia pales. She looks to Izzi.
“It’s true,” Izzi whispers. “We heard that the rebels told the Scholars who weren’t planning on fighting to leave Serra. But so many didn’t. The Martials came for them. They killed everyone. We almost got caught ourselves.”
Keenan turns to Laia.