Page 101 of Dark Soul

“I need to ask you a question,” he said.

“I figured you weren’t just looking for some company for lunch,” she said, her lips almost curling up into a smile. “Ask away.”

“In Dark’s report from the night of the party, he mentioned somebody told you about Kvyat—a journalist who knew that Kvyat had killed your brother, and that you were still looking for justice.”

She sighed. “What does it matter now? Kvyat’s dead.”

Thorne nodded. “Indeed. But I’d like to meet your contact. We may have things to discuss.”

“I don’t know who he is,” she said honestly. “We spoke on the phone once, but that number was later disconnected. Since then, we only communicate by email.”

“Would you be willing to write to him and let him know I’d like to speak with him?”

She considered that for a moment. “I don’t see any problem with that,” she finally said. “But it’ll be his choice whether he wants to speak with you or not.”

“Of course,” Thorne said, crunching loudly on a piece of broccoli. “I appreciate that.”

Alexia wondered vaguely how much broccoli one had to eat to maintain that physique—imagined him as a panda in the forest, munching away on bamboo stalks sixteen hours a day.

“Something funny?”

She shook her head. “Nope. Nothing.”

“There was another reason I was hoping to have lunch together.”

“It’s too late for lunch.”

“A snack together, then.”

“I’m all ears,” she said, taking a sip of her ice water, her appetite all but gone.

“You probably have a lot of questions,” he began, then paused, fishing for information.

“I had a lot of questions,” Alexia replied honestly, “but Dark refused to answer any of them. I’m not stupid. I know you guys are not friends, that you were working together on some … mission … involving Kvyat.”

“I need to know you’re not going to tell any of this to anyone,” Thorne said.

Alexia smiled ruefully. “You don’t need to threaten me. There’s nobody I could tell, and I’m …” She paused for a moment, looking for the best way to say this without embarrassing herself. “I’m not going to tell anyone anything. Not only because you saved my life and Nikolai’s, but also because I would never do anything that could hurt Dark.”

“Ah. Dark,” Thorne said, pushing his plate away, though there was still plenty of food left. “We come back to him.”

“I don’t want him hurt.”

Thorne nodded. “To be honest, he’s not doing so well at the moment.”

Her stomach clenched, threatening to let go of everything she’d just eaten. “What do you mean, he’s not doing so well? What happened?”

Thorne raised his hands, palms up. “Relax. I don’t mean physically. Physically, he’s fine. But emotionally, he’s … not doing great.”

Good.

Serves him right.

I’m not doing so great, either.

“I’m going to give you a choice, Alexia.” He sighed. “A choice that I normally shouldn’t offer.”

Alexia’s ears perked up.