was a time when she thought I was the enemy, though I was only attempting to help her. She understands that now. I am still waiting for you to reach a similar realization.”
His voice had gained an edge.
He finished tying the knots, then grabbed a pair of boots from a cabinet. “I must dispose of Roshian’s body. Tessela can hide it for a short period of time, but we cannot risk anyone discovering it and alerting the Council. If they were to learn of any of this, everything we’ve worked for would be destroyed. They would restrain you for murder—it doesn’t matter that he was human. You would have no chance of running the Gauntlet. No chance of freedom. You would be lucky if you ever got to speak to another human.”
“What about Roshian’s rifle? It’s human-made. It could be useful if anything goes wrong.”
“It is too dangerous to hold on to anything that could be traced back to him,” Cassian said. “But if anything ever happens to me, go to Fian or Tessela. They are ready at all times to enact the secondary plan, should it come to that.”
“Which is . . . ?”
“Free humanity ourselves. Destroy the enclosures. Remove the human wards from menageries and private owners. Take them all to a neutral satellite station until we can establish a more permanent colony.” His fingers flew over the thick laces of his boots. “But that would mean war. There are only several hundred Kindred sympathetic to our cause, on a station of two million. Chances of success would be minimal.”
He finished lacing the second boot and then started to slide on a pair of gloves, glancing at her torn gown. “I will bring you a replacement dress. Until then, you will find clean clothes in the bedroom. Try to rest.”
She could feel his agitation in every step. He was already halfway to the door.
“Wait,” she said.
He stopped, the left glove only halfway over his hand, and turned slowly.
“We need to talk about what happens now.” She took a deep breath. “And I don’t mean now that I’ve killed a man. I mean, what happens now. Now that you’ve read Leon’s mind. Now that you know I never intended to put myself at risk by running the Gauntlet, but meant to cheat it instead. And humiliate you in the process.” She laid her hands flat on the table and seriously wished that empty glass was full of something that would make this conversation easier.
Not the slightest trace of surprise showed on his face. As she’d suspected, he had already known.
He slowly peeled off the the left glove, as though all his previous hurry had vanished. Slowly, he approached the table. For a second, Roshian’s black eyes flashed into her head. Behind the disguise he must have had human eyes, and a human mind, and a human body. She wished she could brush a hand over Cassian’s eyes and have him be just as human.
“I know that you read Leon’s mind,” she said quietly. “I saw it in your face.”
His face gave nothing away.
“Uncloak, Cassian. Please. I don’t want to talk to a statue about this.”
For the count of a few breaths he remained motionless, though she suspected his thoughts must be churning as violently as her own. At last, he dragged over a bench to sit across from her.
“I will not uncloak,” he said slowly. “Uncloaked, I cannot read your thoughts. And what I want from you is the truth. So no masking your thoughts with pain.”
Before she could react, his hand clamped over hers to prevent her from pinching herself. She drew in a sharp breath. He hadn’t put the gloves back on yet and the electric sensation prickled her skin.
“Leon’s mind is a confusing place,” he said. “It is filled with self-doubt and false bravado. I could not read all the details. Only that you never intended to go through with my plan to prove humanity’s intelligence to the Council. That you were only training with me so that you could learn to control the testers’ minds to cheat your way to freedom. I assume all that is true.”
She swallowed. “I’m sorry,” she stammered. “I really am. But I meant what I said. If you expect humanity to excel, we have to play by our own rules, not yours. I have to prove our worth my own way.”
“By cheating.”
“In this case, yes.”
He let out a harsh laugh. “I thought your species demonstrated higher values. I thought you