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“A week.”
Zan stared at him thoughtfully. “What else have you learned since watching me out here?”
“Nothing. We couldn’t hear you. Only watch.”
“You couldn’t find a way into the city?”
“No.” Warner’s face remained blank. “Not a quiet way.”
“Zan, stop,” I begged. “I just want to talk to him for a few minutes.”
“This is a fucking problem, Kali,” Zan said tightly. “I let him go once, and look what happened.”
“You won’t hurt him,” I said, keeping my voice strong. “I know you won’t.”
Zan cocked his head, breaking eye contact with Warner to look at me. “Really?”
“Yes.” I lifted my chin. “You care about me. Hurting him will hurt me.”
Zan muttered a curse before dropping his hand from Warner’s face. “You have five minutes to talk. Then he leaves, or I change my mind, and he ends up back in a cage at Impulse.”
I couldn’t tell whether he was bluffing, but he walked away before I could argue about it. He headed back toward the men that were sprawled in the sand. Warner watched him with loathing in his eyes.
“It’s good to see you,” I said, pulling his attention back to me. “I miss you.”
“Come with me.” There was a desperate edge in his voice. “We can disappear.”
I messed with the necklace locked around my neck. “I can’t.”
“What’s keeping you here?” he exploded, his eyes going to the gun still on the sand. “Him? We can kill him and run.”
I blew out a humorless laugh. “Kill him? He just took out four Clovers, Warner. You can’t kill him.”
“We can,” he said quietly. “It’s two against one.”
“No.” My answer was firm, and he stared at me like he had no idea who I was. “You’re going to leave. And act like you never saw me.”
“What? No?—”
“Warner, I can’t leave,” I cut him off. “I have nowhere to go. PARA wants me. The Clovers want to kill me. I would only be able to survive for so long on my own.”
He gaped at me. “What happened to you? The Kali I knew would rather die trying to survive than bow to vampires.”
“You have no idea what’s been going on,” I snapped, my own anger rising. “Don’t judge me when you know nothing, Warner.”
“Are you choosing vampires over us?” he asked under his breath, his eyes darting to Zan, who had his back to us. “Over humans? Over me?”
I shook my head in a silent answer. “I love you, Warner. But I’m staying here. You need to accept that so you can leave.”
He stared at me, and I could tell he wanted to ask all the questions. Like if I was still on his side. If I was using the information I was learning here to help the Clovers. Whether I was really still the girl he knew. But he didn’t dare voice any of that when Zan was listening.
“So much is changing,” he finally mumbled. “The Clovers are standing up against PARA. Citizens are getting antsy. There are more rules. Less freedom in the cities. Something big is coming, Kali. Another war.”
I smiled sadly. “The war never ended. Can’t you see that? It calmed down, but there’s no ending it. Humans and vampires will never peacefully co-exist.”
“All the more reason to leave,” he pressed.
“I haven’t turned my back on humans,” I said softly. “Trust me, Warner. I’m right where I want to be.”
