Reyes gave her a puzzled look. “Yes. I thought you understood. I told you we’d teach you the things you missed out on. Where else would I take you to learn?”
“Get me out of here.” She couldn’t catch her breath, even though her lungs rapidly pumped air in and out of her chest.
“What? Lena, what?” He stared at her. “What’s the problem? If you’re worried about safety, this is the one place you’ll be safest, and I—”
“No! This is the one place, the single, solitary place my father told me I should never go. This is the place he hid me from.”
A trio of young boys walked through the arch before them, arms laden with trays of sandwiches. The boys looked over at Reyes and Lena with interest, clearly wondering what her outburst had been about. He turned his head and gave them a blistering look. They picked up their pace and hurried down the hallway and around the corner.
Reyes turned back to her. He leaned in and lowered his voice to a persuasive murmur, lifting his hands to cup her shoulders as he had back in the safe house. “I don’t know what that’s about. I have no idea what your father thought he knew. But I can tell you that we will not harm you. It just won’t happen.”
“Then get me out of here. Now.” She turned and waved her hand over the buttons on the wall. Nothing happened.
Reyes reached out and caught her hand. He turned her around. “I can’t do that.” From the tone of his voice, the slow, heavy regret already tingeing his words, this conversation wasn’t going to end well.
“You won’t.”
“No. I won’t. I can’t and I won’t. Not until you have all the information you need to make a rational decision.” A muscle pulsed at the upper end of his jaw, just below his temple. “Tell me why you want to leave. Something besides, ‘Daddy sacrificed my childhood for reasons he didn’t share with me.’ Something that makes sense.”
“I don’t know his reasons. He didn’t share them with me. I was a child.”
“That’s right. You were a gifted child, and you belonged here.” He was losing his temper.
“Well, my father thought otherwise strongly enough that he made sure I didn’t come here.”
“He did. But you’re here now, and here is where you’ll stay.”
And there it was. She drew in a long breath. From his face, it was clear he hadn’t wanted to deal with this. Not yet. The memory of his excited grin from the train was almost enough to quell her, almost enough to make her want to believe what he’d said about safety and belonging.
“So I’m a prisoner?”
Reyes closed his eyes, but not before an answering hard anger bloomed in them. When he opened them, it was gone, replaced by a formal neutrality. He’d slipped back into the mask. He dropped her hand, and his cool, clipped voice was all agent. “Not a prisoner, no. You are an indefinite guest.”
He turned away and walked to the arched opening. “And as a guest, you should eat, make yourself comfortable, and then I’ll show you to your quarters. We have a surprise for you. One I hope you’ll appreciate for the effort it took to make happen.” He raised his arm and gestured into the dining hall.
She stood for a moment. What could she do? Scream? Shout? Sit down and refuse to move? Knock them all out—the entire building—and race around trying to figure out how to get back? She couldn’t even figure out how to make the elevator work, never mind that using that much Spark would kill her. She hadn’t had a chance to ground since she’d brought down the side of the Council building. And get back? To Azcon, where they were hunting her? To the middle of nowhere, to hide again? What then?
No. She needed this. She needed their resources to get access to the Council. She’d gather her thoughts. Cooperate. And figure out what needed to happen to use them and then lose them. But she wouldn’t pretend she wasn’t furious at the deception. They’d know anyhow. She wasn’t Reyes.
She did as he instructed. Used the institutional restroom he indicated then moved through the cafeteria line behind him, accepting the food he put before her. She kept her head down and refused to make eye contact with anyone, although she could hear the whispers and feel stares following her. The male energy, heavy and curious, pushed at her from every direction.
Lena followed him to a table on the far side of the cafeteria. She sat where he indicated and began eating. She tasted nothing except the bread. She savored every chewy, yeasty bite of the bread.
When she finished, she glanced up and wasn’t surprised to see that Reyes had already finished and leaned back in his chair to watch her. Beneath the mask of calm, his glare roved over her face. She caught the stare with her own and held it defiantly.
His lips thinned, and he nodded, a curt movement indicating his impatience.