Chapter 15

The afternoon sun was shining bright when they walked outside. "Do you regret it?" he asked. "Regret what?"

      "Saving me. Running away from everything. Do you regret it?"

      "No. No matter the reason the Council have for capturing you, it's not fair. Why though? Why do they want you?"

      Caine looked away. "I don't want to tell you. I can't."

      "Why not?"

      "Because it makes it real."

      Signe knew that feeling too well. "You can't hide it forever, you know. One day your past will catch up and you will have to deal with it."

      Caine started walking without replying. She could see that wall again, building up. The wall that protected him for so many years. She was familiar with it; she had done the same thing. She was still doing it. It protected her from the past, the past she wanted to forget. "Hey!" she shouted after him, and he stopped, but didn't turn around. "If we're going to live together from now on, it's about time we start being honest with each other."

      "I never lied," he said.

      "You didn't exactly tell me the whole truth either."

      "I told you already, I don't trust you."

      "Then start! Have I done anything to make you feel that way?"

      Caine didn't respond. Signe caught up with him. "I'm going to make you a deal," she said. "I share something, you share something. It can be anything, but it has to be something of value. Deal?" She held out her hand. He hesitated, then turned around and shook it. "Deal."