Semua Bab Shattered by three, claimed by none: Bab 41 - Bab 45

Sage's POVI walked to the door and opened it. Vex stood in the hallway, his dark eyes scanning the room behind me before settling on my face."What do you want?" I asked.Vex crossed his arms. "I thought I saw you with someone. I was not sure. I came to see if you were in some kind of trouble. Or difficulty."I shook my head. "No. The person left already." I paused, then added, "How did you know I was with someone? I did not see you when I was outside."Vex's expression did not change. "The truth is that Kael called me. He told me you were with someone. He sounded... concerned." He looked past me again, as if expecting to see someone still hiding in the room. "Do you know this person?"I felt a flicker of irritation. "This is not the time for that. Can we continue this talk tomorrow? It has been a long day."Vex's eyes searched my face. "Is everything alright? The way Kael spoke to me made me feel like something was off.""Everything is fine," I said. "There is nothing to worry about.

Sage's POVSome hours later.The meeting was over. Tom had given us a detailed plan. And I discovered gym room on the first floor. It was empty at this hour, the equipment unused, the windows letting in the last light of the setting sun.I sat on a bench near the wall and stared at the punching bag in the corner. My mind was not on exercise. It was on the opportunity to catch the smugglers in the act. It sounded like the break we had been waiting for.But something else was nagging at me. A small voice in the back of my head that would not shut up.The men could be right.I hated admitting that. I hated the thought of agreeing with Kael, Vex, or Cass about anything. But the questions they had raised kept circling back. I haven't seen him for a year, not had any contact with him since we separated.What had he been doing in this community for two months? He said he had been tracking the smugglers, gathering evidence, waiting for the right moment. But two months was a long time. Long e