Lear looked miserably at the other four, and Katie saw, alarmed, that none of them knew.
“I see. You’re all helpful advisers, until you’re not.”
“Shut up, Katie!” Gavin roared. He kicked at the bucket on the floor, coming dangerously close to spilling it; water slopped over the side to land on Jonathan’s feet.
“This is why I didn’t pick you, Gavin,” Jonathan murmured. “You have a hole inside, and you’ll fill it with anything. Quality not required.”
Gavin raised his knife, but Lear grabbed his arm, speaking quickly. “We were only supposed to bring the water.”
Gavin stared at the two of them, Jonathan and Katie, for another long, furious moment, then pocketed his knife and headed for the door. “Come on. They’re not our problem anymore.”
Katie bared her teeth. Only a moment ago, she had been thinking that Gavin was too stupid to merit anger. But at his words, the dismissal in them, the idea that he might wash his hands of the situation simply because that was what he chose to believe, Katie felt several small explosions fire in her brain.
“I will be your problem, Gavin Murphy!” she shouted after him, as the group of men exited through the door. “You’re a traitor, and when I get out of here, I will treat you like one! Even Row can’t protect you from me!”
The door slammed behind them, but not before Katie caught a glimpse of Gavin’s face, pale and suddenly terrified. She grinned at him, showing every tooth, and then the padlock snapped shut and the light disappeared.
“I admire bravado,” Jonathan remarked drily. “But that’s a tough threat to make good on.”
“I don’t care. He’s scared of Row; he can be scared of me too.”
“He’s scared of everything, Gavin. It makes him incredibly easy to manipulate. That fear ruled the pre-Crossing; my father used to talk about it. Entire countries would close their borders and build walls to keep out phantom threats. Can you imagine?”
“Yes,” Katie said shortly. It had taken only twenty short years to take Tear’s good town and turn it into a wreck. All Row had needed was a church and, perversely, a lack of faith. She could believe anything now. She tipped her head back against the wall, closing her eyes. Somehow it was easier to bear the darkness that way. “How did your father beat them?”
“He didn’t. He tried, but in the end he had no choice but to run away. They called it the Crossing, but in reality, it was nothing but a retreat. And now that’s failed too.”
His voice was bleak, so bleak that it arrowed straight down to Katie’s core and seemed to slice her open. She groped for his hand in the dark, twining his fingers with hers.
“Don’t be a prat.”
“I’m not.” Jonathan’s voice suddenly strengthened, as though he had resolved something. “I need you to do something for me.”
“What?”
There was a clink of metal in the darkness, and then Katie jumped as she felt something slither against her neck, a heavy chunk of stone tumbling down her breastbone.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m giving it to you.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re tougher than I was. You always were.” Jonathan’s voice was bitter in the darkness. “You’ll take much longer to break.”
“Neither of us will break.”
“I will.” Jonathan’s hand clasped hers. “We’re out of options. It’s better than nothing.”
Katie made a face. The Tears were pragmatists; they always had been. But she couldn’t help longing for something better: not a compromise but a silver bullet, the holy grail of government. Where was it, that one perfect thing? She felt that if she could only find it, she would be willing to spend her life working to make it fire.
Fine words in a dungeon, Jonathan’s voice mocked her.
Katie frowned, then leaned her head back again. It was time to wait, to clear her head, to prepare for the moment when her oldest and closest friend would come through the door, carrying a knife meant for her.