Before Haze could reply, another voice cut through the hallway.
"Oh, don't be dumb, Adam. Let him be."
The voice was sharp yet smooth, familiar in a way that only one person's could be. Elena stepped out from around the corner, her black braid swinging behind her as she moved into view. The torchlight caught the dark sheen of her hair and the faint flicker of fire that always seemed to glow somewhere in her eyes.
She carried herself with that same quick energy she always had, calm when she wanted to be, fierce when she didn't.
Adam turned his head lazily in her direction, his expression half-amused. "What? I said only the truth," he said, as if that somehow excused everything.
Elena shook her head, her braid sliding forward over one shoulder. "How could he have known Gatti would betray him? None of us would have known," she said simply, her tone cutting through his carelessness.
