“Beginner’s luck, I suppose,” Pearl said. “I’m sure you were just distracted.”
Khan pushed his chair back and stood up with his lips in thin lines. “I wasn’t paying attention.”
Pearl turned toward me. “Should we take a cup of tea in the park?”
“Tea sounds lovely.” I smiled and bit back a chuckle.
Taking my arm Pearl glided gracefully out of the room and spoke over her shoulder. “May we ask for some tea and a bit of privacy?”
Khan pointed to Boulder. “You follow them and make sure they don’t do something stupid.”
With a nod, Boulder followed us – offering us enough distance to have a private conversation.
“It’s so nice to see you again, Christina,” Pearl said and squeezed my arm. I couldn’t understand how she could look almost delighted in this grim hostage situation.
“I want to say the same, but given the circumstances, I’m not sure,” I admitted.
Pearl’s brows dropped. “We couldn’t let one of our priestesses be here against her will.”
“But surely you could have imposed harder sanctions and used your political powers, couldn’t you?”
“Yes” was her short answer. “We might still do that.”
With eyes scanning the area, I lowered my voice to a whisper. “I was going to help Athena escape today, and I can help you.”
Pearl stopped and seemed to be thinking.
“We’ll take Boulder’s drone and fly to the border before they find out. I’ve planned it all out and learned how to fly his hybrid manually.”
“I’m impressed,” Pearl said softly. “But there’s no need.”
“No need?” I asked incredulously.
“I chose to come, and I stand by my word that I’ll take Athena’s place. Khan won’t harm me, I’m sure of it.”
“You don’t know him,” I warned. “He might be cordial and even charming at times but he’s ruthless and barbaric. He’ll watch men kill each other and find it entertaining. The man has no heart.”
“No heart?”
“No. You can’t trust him.”
“And Boulder, do you trust him?” She gave a discreet glance in his direction.
My answer came quickly and surprised us both. “Yes. I trust him.”
Pearl furrowed her brows. “Why?”
“He protects me and he…” I couldn’t say it.
“He what?”
“He likes me,” I forced out.
“Christina, what is your relationship with that man?”
I chewed on my lower lip, unsure how to tell her. “Maybe we should sit down first,” I suggested.
The weather was nice, and warm enough that we didn’t mind the breeze. We found a place to sit and thanked the man who brought us tea.
