The Girl Who Dared to Endure (The Girl Who Dared #6)

“Tian,” she replied automatically. “She convinced me that I had completed the mission. There were also two of you—you and a man, whom I haven’t seen since. We were in the IT department, and I—”

“That’s enough,” I said, holding up my hand. I looked over at Leo, who gave me a tentative nod. It seemed we had been looking a gift horse in the mouth a little bit. The odds were that Jasper was as he claimed: one stubborn AI program who had managed to survive Sadie’s attempts to break him. Leo could scour both their codes to make 100 percent certain, but based on Rose’s answer, I felt confident that we were just incredibly fortunate.

So I allowed myself a brief moment of happiness. Jasper was back and had brought Rose with him. Just when I was worrying about Leo and me having to do this alone, the universe had decided to bring us a win.

And I wasn’t about to look this gift horse in the mouth any longer. “Jasper, Leo’s still going to want to check you and Rose over, and I’m going to insist, but in the meantime, can you go ahead and start decrypting Sadie’s files?”

“She says it as if I haven’t already started,” Jasper replied, and Rose giggled. I cast a bemused look at Leo, but it quickly wilted under his cold eyes. He made a gesture toward the war room, silently asking my permission to go check their files. I got the impression that he wanted to be anywhere but where we were, and even though I had wanted to have a chat about his behavior, I wasn’t ready to start. Especially not after that look. It was too painful.

So instead, I nodded and turned away, keeping my head held high as I glided past Maddox, Quess, and Zoe, and headed back to the kitchen.





25





I stopped in the kitchen long enough to make three plates of food and asked Maddox to get started sifting through what Jasper found in Sadie’s files, to see if we could build a case against her and root out her legacy group once and for all. Even though Jasper was working to unlock whatever secrets Sadie had on her computer, there was no guarantee that he’d be able to find anything in her files, and to rely solely on that would be foolish. Luckily, there was another route to getting the information I wanted, even if it was one that was going to take longer, and that was by winning the trust of Liam, the boy that Tian had captured.

I had questions for them both, and breakfast seemed like a good pretense to start asking them. It was bad enough that Liam had witnessed us beating up Baldy—Mathias—after being caught by Tian. It would be even worse if we’d been starving him. I had no idea if they’d eaten dinner last night—because I hadn’t even stopped in to check up on either of them. I knew Tian was staying in the same room with him, to try to reassure him that we weren’t going to hurt him, and now it was time to reinforce that story. I’d delve into Sadie’s files afterward.

Balancing all three plates of food was tricky, and I wound up ordering Cornelius to open the door so I didn’t risk tipping one of the plates upside down. The door slid open to reveal darkness, telling me that the two were probably still asleep. I hated waking them, but it was already ten thirty, and I wanted to make sure they ate. “Cornelius, lights at 60 percent,” I said conversationally.

Immediately, the overhead lights brightened, revealing the small room I had designed just yesterday. There was a bed in the corner, and I zeroed in on the fact that both Tian and Liam were sleeping in it. It would’ve been a little too intimate for my liking, were it not for the fact that Tian was lying in the opposite direction from him—on his back. Her legs were bent partially so that her ankles were pressed against his shoulder, and she had somehow wormed her toes in between his face and the pillow, the ones closest to me magically tucked under his nose. Her rear end pressed into the small of his back, completely pinning his legs under her arms and shoulders. To top it all off, they were both fully clothed, save for their shoes and socks. Much to my relief.

Liam’s eyes were wide and pleading, but Tian was still fast asleep, her breathing deep and even, eyes screwed firmly shut. I had no idea how; the position looked wildly uncomfortable to me.

“Please get her off me,” he begged quietly.

I gave him a sympathetic look as I carefully carried the plates to a table I had set up on the opposite side, setting them down first. Then I turned around, sucked in a deep breath, and said, “Tian, breakfast!” in a slightly singsong voice.

Tian started, and then sat right up on Liam, ignoring his short yips of surprise at her every jerky movement. She squinted around the room, her white-blond bob whipping back and forth as she tried to find the source of her morning call. Bleary eyes eventually settled on me, and then almost disappeared as her eyelids became slits.

“Liana?” she chirped in recognition.

“Good morning,” I said cheerfully. “I brought you and Liam breakfast. Do you think you can… get off him?”

She looked down at where her feet were wrapped around his face, and slowly pulled them back, tucking her legs on either side of him and propping herself up by pressing the palms of her hands in between his shoulder blades. A slow grin crossed her lips. “Absolutely,” she said brightly. “As soon as I give him a good morning kiss!”

Liam’s eyes widened even more, and he began to thrash. “Get this crazy girl off me!” he shouted.

Tian’s smile only broadened as she rode out his struggles, barely losing her balance. “My boyfriend says the sweetest things, doesn’t he?” She bent down and managed to sneak a peck on his cheek, in spite of his efforts, and then bounced off of him, her feet landing on the floor with a rather loud slap. “What’s for breakfast, and more importantly, who cooked?”

I grinned. “Quess cooked this morning. It’s omelettes and potatoes.”

Tian made a face, her nose wrinkling. “So heavy,” she groaned theatrically. “No fruit?”

“I can get you some if you want,” I replied. “But I figured—”

I was cut off by Liam’s sudden movement, the bed squeaking somewhat as he threw himself off it, raced to the door, and started to pound on it. “Help, help, let me out! Please!” he cried desperately, flinging a look over his shoulder to see if we would do anything. I considered him for a moment, and then decided to just ignore it. He had to know by now that no one was going to let him out without my permission. And it would most likely drive him crazy and force him to engage if I ignored him.

“I figured you’d need a big meal if you missed dinner last night. Did you remember dinner?”

Tian’s eyes flashed, and she gave me a sulky look. “Yes,” she said, drawing the syllable out.

“What was it?” I asked, preparing myself for the worst.

“It was a pickle sandwich,” Liam announced. “Literally a pickle, wedged between two pieces of bread.”

“Delicious,” Tian said, kissing the tips of her fingers. “I am an excellent chef.”

I snorted and pointed to the chair. “Sit down and eat up. I’ll get some fruit later, okay?”

“Okay,” she said, dropping into an open chair. I took the one across from her, leaving Liam the chair between us. Tian picked up a fork and prepared to spear a little golden potato, but then paused and cast a look over her shoulder. “You hungry? My brother Quess is amazing at almost everything, including cooking. You should really try the potatoes. At a certain point, you’d think there’s too much garlic, but then nope, he proves you wrong. He is also an excellent chef.”

Liam frowned and looked back over at me. “She’s just… like this?” he asked me, completely bewildered. “Like… all the time? It isn’t a ploy to get me to talk or reveal secrets about myself or anything?”