Secrets Are For Keeping

Chapter Forty-Three

I was back in my cell, my mind reeling.

Kain. Kain had indirectly killed Pepper's father.

I couldn't believe it.

I wouldn't.

But it didn't really matter if I didn't want to believe it, because my mind wouldn't stop forcing me to relive the moments of the past seven days when what Pepper was saying made obvious sense.

It made too much sense. It explained how Pepper had originally seemed annoyed by Kain's presence, like she'd wanted to punch him in the face. And the rest of how the two had interacted with each other...Kain had always seemed so carefree, but looking back Pepper had acted tenser than usual whenever she'd talked to him. She probably had to act, that entire time. She had to pretend she wasn't five seconds away from killing him just so she could keep up her part, and make sure none of us were suspicious of her.

I pressed the back of my skull against the cell wall, feeling like everything was coming to pieces right in front of my eyes.

I lost track of time until I heard the quickly-becoming-familiar noise of footsteps, although I was unable to see anything or anyone in the hallway yet.

I expected there to be only one pair, but as I listened closer I could make out a couple, like there were almost five different people walking down the hallway, all at the same pace. The hallway didn't even seem like it could be wide enough to hold that many people.

Now my attention had shifted to the people coming down the hallway, who I wouldn't be able to see until they actually walked past my cell. But then the footsteps stopped outside of my cell, and they weren't walking by it. Somebody was putting in the code to open the door.

I'd just been returned to my cell and they were already taking me back out? And was it really necessary for them to have a total of five people just to get me from one place to another?

The door opened, and I immediately stood up in shock.

Kain was pushed into the cell and a pair of handcuffs were removed from around his wrists.

He looked up at me, and I could see the second he recognized me.

My feet pushed me forward and into his arms, and he hugged me back. He smelled like metal and rust, probably due to the handcuffs that had only then been taken away. I closed my eyes and kept my face pressed against his chest, my mind only thinking one thing. That Kain was here. Kain was here and he was alive. Kain was okay.

But then I remembered where we were, what we were doing there. Kain was here. He couldn't be here because that meant he was going to have to go through everything that I'd have to go through. He shouldn't be here, because I hadn't wanted any of them to come here with me, even though Pepper had had other plans since the beginning and even though Kain...Kain had hurt Pepper...

I didn't know what to say. Was I supposed to just ask him right there, did you indirectly kill Pepper's father which is why she's now out for revenge? I couldn't do that. I couldn't even mention what I knew without feeling like I'd ruin the moment, ruin the mini reunion that consisted of Kain hugging me and me hugging him back.

But the thought had come and now it wasn't leaving me. It bounced around in my head, not letting me forget about it, even as I let go of Kain and took a step back.

He looked surprised and confused at seeing me there, in the cell that had two beds. Now I knew what the second bed had been for. It had been waiting for Kain, who had been already on his way to wherever we were, even as Pepper had been explaining to me how Kain had hurt her.

"Nova," he whispered, still looking surprised to actually see me.

I stared at him, knowing I had to ask, but not knowing how.

"I thought I'd never see you again...and then they took me during the day, after taking you...they took me when Zander and Pepper were somewhere else and now the two of them are probably wondering where we are...Nova...we need to get out of here, we need to escape." He was about to continue talking, but froze when he saw my expression.

I winced, not wanting to confess it out loud, but knowing there was no way around it. "Kain...Pepper...she lied to us."

He stared at me, looking extremely worried and concerned. It was more emotion than I was used to seeing from him until recently when he had started opening up more to me. "What?"

"Pepper..." I swallowed the saliva building in my throat. "...she betrayed us. She's with them."

I saw the expression on Kain's face change, going from being openly worried to suddenly more guarded and hidden. He didn't say anything, just stared.

I walked over to the disgusting mattress on the metal bed closer to where the keypad was on the wall outside, and sat down. What was supposed to be plush and comfortable was instead hard and dusty. Kain continued to stand and stare from his position next to the metal bars, and then slowly walked over to sit down next to me. Once seated, he bent over and put his head in his hands.

"I...never suspected her...," he muttered, still looking completely expressionless. It scared me, how utterly blank his face had become in the matter of seconds.

But we weren't given any time to think about it because an inspector appeared next to the metal bars and reopened the door. He walked towards the two of us on the bed, and before either of us could move, he grabbed me and pulled me away from the bed so he could tie my arms behind my back. I grunted as my shoulder was yanked backwards, and I saw Kain stand up. He looked angry, and I could tell he wanted to do something, to attack the guard holding me or cause some sort of pain to the people who were holing us up here.

But even if he wanted to, he wouldn't be able to. There were four other guards right on the outside of our cell, and they'd reach him far before he could even lay a finger on the guard now pulling me back out the open door.

Our eyes met, as the guard unlocked the door, and I could see the pain written in every feature of his face.