I looked at Jase. His mouth hung open like he was trying to find words.
“Give her over, Montegue,” he called. His voice was weak. The agony in it ripped through me.
“A trade,” Montegue repeated.
“You spawn of the devil!” Priya screamed. “Give her to us!”
Gunner shook his head like he didn’t believe what he was seeing.
“What do we do?”
“Jalaine!”
She didn’t respond.
“He’s a monster!”
“We have to get her!”
“We can’t trade!”
Jalaine’s head turned toward us. She was alive.
Everyone’s shouts were hushed.
“Well, Ballenger?”
Jase drew in a heavy breath. He was contemplating it.
I grabbed his arm. “Jase, no! You can’t—”
?
??She’s my sister, Kazi. I need to—”
I saw it in his eyes. He had already made up his mind.
“No!” I turned to Montegue. “You want a prisoner? Take me!” I stepped toward him, but Jase grabbed my wrist and pulled me back.
Montegue’s eyes dug into mine, a ravenous hunger in them, as if he was considering my proposal—or maybe he just loved watching me beg. You could have had everything. He shook his head. “You’re worthless to me now,” he called. “The Patrei is the far greater prize.”
“I found the papers!” I yelled, frantically trying to convince him. “I’ll give them to you! The magic! It’s all yours!”
He smiled. “You’ll have to lie better than that. Desperation does not become you, soldier. And being a fool twice definitely does not become a king. Maybe this moment will finally convince you that I am the greater leader.” He looked back at Jase. “Time is fleeting. Soon my offer will vanish.”
“I’m coming,” Jase called.
“No!” I said. “You won’t even make it to the noose! He’ll—”
Jase grabbed my arms. His eyes glistened. “Kazi, she’s my sister. I don’t want the last thing she sees on this earth to be his face. Would you really want me to be the man who doesn’t go to her?”
The answer was a knife in my heart. There had to be another way.
“Jase—” My chest shook. “Please—”
He nodded to Titus and Gunner, and they grabbed my arms, pulling me away from him.
They called out the arrangements of the trade. The promises.