the ovens. Opening the first black metal door, he stoked the embers of the fire and added more coal.
“I’ve been busy. You know. The Generals. The delegation. The feast. Which, by the way, was magnificent, Rand. You’re a genius.”
He perked up after I appealed to his ego. I resigned myself to the fact that, if I wanted him to think we were still friends, I would have to talk to him. I placed my breakfast on a table and pulled up a stool.
Rand limped toward me. “Someone said you were sick?”
“Yeah. Stomach bug. Haven’t eaten in two days, but I’m better now.” I gestured to the bread.
“Hold off, I’ll make you some sweet cakes.”
I watched him mix the batter, making sure he didn’t slip in a poisonous ingredient. But after the cakes were under my nose, I dug into them with mindless abandon. The familiar scene of Rand making bread while I sat close by dissolved the awkwardness between us. We were soon chatting and laughing.
It wasn’t until his questions turned pointed and specific that I realized Rand was pumping me for information about the Commander and Valek. I clenched my fork, stabbing it hard into my sweet cakes.
“Hear anything about this southern treaty?” Rand asked.
“No.” My tone was harsh, and he looked at me with curiosity. “Sorry, I’m tired. I better get back to bed.”
“Before you go, you might as well take these beans along.” Rand pulled down the glass jar. “I’ve sautéed, ground, even boiled them, but they still taste unrecognizably terrible.” He poured them into a bag, and went to check on his baking fires.
Watching him stir the glowing coals gave me an idea. “Maybe they’re not to eat,” I said. “Maybe they’re a source of fuel.” The southern pods had been delivered to Brazell’s new factory. Perhaps he was using them to heat his ovens.
“Worth a try,” Rand said.
I threw the beans into the hearth fire. We waited for a while, but there were no sudden flames or increase in temperature. While Rand switched his bread pans, I stared into the embers, thinking that as far as the mystery of the beans was concerned, I was out of options.
When Rand started again with his questions, I turned my eyes away from the oven’s fire. Pressure knotted in my throat. “I’d better get going or Valek will be wondering where I am.”
“Yes, by all means go. I noticed you and Valek have become close. Tell him, for me, not to kill anybody, will you?” Sarcasm rendered Rand’s voice sharp.
I lost control and slammed the oven door shut. It echoed in the quiet kitchen. “At least Valek has the decency to inform me when he’s poisoning me,” I blurted out, but wished I could pull the words from the air and stuff them back into my mouth. Blaming my fatigue, my anger, or Rand for my outburst wouldn’t erase what I had just said.
His facial expressions contorted and vacillated from surprise to guilt to anger. “Did Star tell you?” he demanded.
“Ah…” I was at a loss. If I said yes, he would find out from Star that I was lying, and if I said no, he would insist on knowing my source. Either way, he’d figure it out. I had just revealed Valek’s entire undercover operation.
Fortunately, Rand didn’t wait for me to answer before launching into a tirade. “I should have known she would tell you. She loves to play nasty head games. When you came along, I didn’t want to know you. All I wanted was the heap of gold credit that Star offered to apply to my debt if I spiked Valek’s test.” Rand pounded the table. “Then my damn morals and your damn niceness complicated things. Selling information about you, then having to protect you without looking like I was protecting you made my life hell.”
“Sorry for the inconvenience,” I said. “I guess I should be grateful, poisonings and kidnappings aside.” Sarcasm sharpened my voice.
Rand rubbed his hands over his face. His anger had dissipated. “I’m sorry, Yelena. I was backed into a corner and I couldn’t get out without hurting someone.”
I softened. “Why did Star want me poisoned?”
“General Brazell commissioned her. That shouldn’t be a surprise.”
“No.” I thought for a moment, and then asked, “Rand, is there anyone who can help you get out of this mess? Maybe Valek?”
“Absolutely not! Why do you have such an elevated opinion of him? He’s a murderer. You should hate him just for giving you Butterfly’s Dust. I would.”
“Who told you?” I demanded. “Who else knows? I thought only the Commander and Valek knew.”
“Your predecessor, Oscove, told me why he never tried to run, and no, I haven’t sold that information to anyone. I do have limits.” He tugged at his apron. “Oscove’s hatred of Valek rivaled my own, and I understood that, but your relationship with Valek…” Rand’s furrowed brows spiked up toward his forehead.
“You’re in love with him,” he cried.
“That’s preposterous,” I shouted.
We gaped at each other, too stunned to say anything more.
Then a sweet, nutty aroma reached my nose. Rand, too, sniffed the air. I followed the scent to the oven where I had tossed the mystery beans into the fire. Opening the door, I was greeted by a strong puff of heavenly scent. Criollo.
27
“WHERE DID YOU FIND those beans?” Rand asked. “They’re the missing ingredient to the Criollo recipe. I didn’t think of roasting them to change the flavor.”
“A storeroom downstairs,” I lied. I wasn’t about to tell him that Valek and I had intercepted them on the way to Brazell’s new factory. Which, I now realized, was probably not producing feed but manufacturing Criollo.
“Which storeroom?” Rand asked, a hint of desperation in his voice.
“I don’t remember.”
“Try harder. If I can duplicate Ving’s recipe for Criollo, then maybe I won’t be transferred.”
“Transferred? Where?”
“You mean Valek hasn’t gloated over it by now? He’s wanted to get rid of me since the takeover. I’m being sent to Brazell’s manor house, and Ving will come here. He won’t last a week!” Rand spat the words out with bitter force.
“When?”
“Don’t know. I haven’t gotten my transfer papers yet. So there’s some hope to stop it. If you can find me those beans.”
He thinks we’re still friends, I realized in amazement. Even after admitting to poisoning me and accusing me of loving his enemy, he believes I’ll do it for him. I had no response. I stalled. “I’ll try,” I said, then made a hasty exit.
The first flicker of dawn was cresting the Soul Mountains as I arrived at Valek’s suite unseen. The tall windows in the living
