How can something so violent be so beautiful?
“What happened?” I ask. He hasn’t said anything since he entered. He’s so still, so silent, that I wonder if he’s real at all. If he’s a statue or a ghost or a figment of my imagination.
Then, finally, he speaks. “He’s still refusing to talk. Despite my… persuading.”
“Does that mean he’s still alive?”
“Of course he is,” Phoenix grumbles. “I won’t let him die until he’s given me what I want.”
“Does that mean you won’t attack until he does?”
The question is an invitation for yet another fight, but I can’t help it. My son’s life hangs in the balance. And where I have to fight, I will.
“I’ve considered it from all angles,” he says cautiously. “And it seems unwise to move before Raj tells me what he knows.”
Relief floods through me. Followed
