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?”

I looked at Tian, who was now happily ignoring both of us in order to eat, and then back to him. “She’s just Tian, and this is just breakfast. I won’t lie and tell you I’m not going to ask you some questions, but I also want you to know that I’m not going to hurt you, or starve you, to get answers. If you don’t want to tell me, that’s fine, but it will only be worse for you the longer you stay silent.”

The boy considered this for a long time, and after a few seconds had gone by, I returned my focus to my own plate and started eating. Tian was right about Quess’s use of garlic: almost overpowering, but then again not. I wasn’t sure how he did it, but the food was delicious. I was a quarter of the way through my plate when the legs of the empty chair scraped along the floor. A second later, Liam dropped into it and reached for the spoon I had left next to the plate.

I let him enjoy a few big bites, and then cleared my throat. “It’s pretty good, right?” His eyes darted up at me, and he nodded, but didn’t slow down or pause to respond. It was my fault; it wasn’t exactly a question that called for a lengthy response. “How does it compare to the MREs?” I asked casually, taking another bite of my potatoes.

His eyes widened, and then he looked down at his bowl of food. “You weren’t ‘posed to see me take those,” he said sullenly. “I caught a whoopin’ because of you.”

“Someone hit you?” Tian squeaked, flashing me wide, fearful eyes.

“Someone’s always hitting someone where I’m from.” He put his spoon down on the table with a click. “But I’m not telling you nothing about that.”

I studied him for a second. “About what?” I asked innocently.

“About my home. About my people.”

“Oh.” I paused so I could take another bite, then chew, and then swallow. “That’s okay. You don’t have to.”

I was studying his reaction closely, so I didn’t miss the flicker of surprise and uncertainty there. “I… I don’t? But you…”

“We were beating up your leader, Mathias,” I said, and his eyes widened in recognition.

“Does he know I’m here?” he asked, his voice barely a whisper.

I cocked my head at him. If Mathias had, it wouldn’t matter. Still, I wasn’t sure breaking the news that we had killed his leader was the best way to tell him that, and it certainly wouldn’t do much to reassure him.

“No,” I replied. “Why? What would happen if he knew?”

“Nothing,” the boy said quickly, leaning forward to resume shoveling food into his mouth at a rapid pace, as if a full mouth would keep him from having to say anything. I tried not to let my frustration show. He was clearly lying, but if I pointed that out to him now, he’d clam up completely. I wasn’t even sure why he was talking to me. Was it because Tian had spent all night sleeping on his back, or was it because he was inexperienced?

“That’s good,” I said idly, deciding to test the waters to see how he’d react if he found out otherwise. “I’d suggest you keep your voice down, though. He’s right in the next room.”

His eyes rounded, and his head whipped back and forth between the walls, as if wondering which side was more dangerous. “Can he hear us?”

“Only if we get too loud,” I told him with a smile. “Why? He can’t get out of there. You’re safe.”

Liam’s mouth pulled down. “No one’s safe from him. If I mess up, if I let anything slip to you, he’ll throw me off the Tower. And if he won’t, then he will.”

The way Liam said the second “he” told me he was talking about somebody else. But who? Not Sadie. Then maybe Plain-Face? “Who?” I asked.

He glanced at me, his expression immediately closeted. “No one.”

A lie—but I could tell by how tight his face was that he wasn’t going to answer, and I wasn’t going to push. He was clearly afraid, but at least he had taught me something: there was another “he” in the picture after all, maybe the ‘he’ that Baldy had mentioned. I leaned back in my chair and studied him, deciding to take a different approach. “Is that an expression?” I asked, hoping that it was. “The thing you said about them throwing people off the Tower? Are you just exaggerating to prove a point?”

Liam gave me an annoyed look and folded his arms over his chest. “No,” he said flatly. “Sometimes he makes us all come and watch, if’n one of us screwed up bad enough to warrant the drop.”

“Us?” I asked casually, keeping my body relaxed so as not to show the sudden tension that came over me. They threw people off the Tower if they didn’t follow the rules? And they made the others watch, in order to keep them in line? What would happen to the Tower once these people enacted whatever they had in mind for Scipio? That sort of fear tactic was beyond sickening. It was horrifying.

He shifted in his chair. “It doesn’t matter. Now that I’ve been caught, they’ll be sending people after me. And Mathias.”

“Can they find you?” I asked.

He scowled at me. “I shouldn’t be talking to you,” he declared. “This was all a trick, to try to make me tell you about the others.”

“No,” I replied, shaking my head slowly, trying to emphasize the point. “It isn’t a trick, and I’ve been upfront with you about having questions. I’m not forcing you to answer, but I’m hoping that you will, because you know those people are bad. I promise, you’re safe here. They won’t be able to get you. But I can only keep you safe if you can tell us what they want—and where I can find them.”

He gave me a pitying look. “You don’t find them. They find you.”

My frustration with his stubbornness suddenly turned a corner with that condescending statement, and I frowned. I wanted him to believe me when I said we could keep him safe from the legacies, but he also needed to understand the truth of the situation he was in.

“Look, I mean what I say about trying to help you, but I’m going to be real with you. We are going to find them, one way or another. If you help us, I can make sure that you don’t go down with them, but if you don’t… Well, you’re what, fifteen, sixteen? The Tower will hold you accountable for all of their crimes. You have a choice to make: help us and save yourself, or stay quiet, and go down with them. From the few things you’ve said, they don’t seem like very good people. Why protect them?”

“That’s my business,” he said, and he abruptly stood up, fast enough to scoot his chair back a few feet with a loud grating sound. “I’m done.”

I watched as he strode back over to the bed and threw himself down on it, training his gaze on the ceiling. There was a nervousness to his actions that told me he was worried about what we were going to do to him after this act of defiance, but I was happy to let him sit there and realize that I meant what I said. We weren’t going to hurt him. I worried I had pushed too far, but he needed to know how serious this was. If he didn’t help us, there was nothing I could do to stop the council from charging him. The very least I could do was continue to demonstrate that we weren’t going to hurt him. So I focused on eating my breakfast and talking with Tian.

It wasn’t easy. I really wanted answers from him, but it warred with my desire to make him feel safe. It had been too much to expect everything to happen easily. Still, he had spoken and felt safe enough to eat.

And that was something, even if it wasn’t much.