A few seconds after I sat, Linette took a seat catty-corner across from me. Close enough to whisper without being obvious. Then, to my surprise, Tater sat catty-corner on the other side, down the bench from Linette, making a triangle between the three of us.
For a full two minutes we ate in silence, surrounded by the sounds of metal and plastic clinking, and mouths slurping noodles and water. Then, without looking up from her plate, Linette said, “He likes you.”
I froze, an icky feeling trickling over me. Her words were loaded, and I didn’t like where this was going. I flitted my eyes over to Tater, whose fork had paused mid-twirl on his plate. With his entire body like a statue, just his eyes moved to me, filling with a hatred so deep, so reckless, that the hairs rose on my arms. Hatred for the Senator.
“He doesn’tlikeme,” I hissed under my breath to both of them. “He’s using me to be a go-between so humans don’t riot or something. A human liaison.”
“Now is not the time to play sweet and innocent,” she hissed right back. “He obviously feels comfortable with you, and has fucking heart eyes for you. He barely looked at me.”
I clenched my teeth and Tater dropped his fork to his half-eaten plate.
“Please eat,” I told him. Then to Linette, “So what if he’s comfortable with me? I am never alone with him. Guards are always around, and his second in command hates me.”
Linette took another bite and chewed, her whole body appearing tense as a guard rounded our table. Tater continued eating until the guard was out of ear shot.
“Find a way to seduce him, Remy. Don’t act like you can’t.”
“So, that’s the only thing I could possibly be good for, huh? Being a whore?”
“Is that what you think I am?” she asked.
I shook my head. No. That’s not what I thought of her, but her situation with the Baelese prisoner in Utah had been different than this. Fear clawed at my belly. “They’ll shoot me if I accidentally brush against him.”
“If you care about saving humanity,find a way,” she reiterated before taking her last bite and standing to leave.
I trembled, appetite completely lost. Tater had gone still again.
“What does she want me to find out?” I whispered. And what could she possibly do with the information? “I wouldn’t even know where to begin! I can’t get him alone, Tater—there’s no way.” The weight of it was like carrying a boulder, the pressure enough to crush me.
“Don’t let that motherfucker touch you, Remy.” He shoveled the last bites into his mouth, his forearms flexed with tension as he chewed and swallowed. “Linette is wrong. You hear me?”
“Yes,” I breathed.
I was still shaking, staring down at my macabre-looking plate as Tater stalked away.
