Page 49 of Dark Gambit: The Play

Turner didn't seem to share his concern. "If Navuh and his warriors didn't detect the one we sent to Areana, I don't think the Kra-ell will either. It's a risk, but of the several options we have, none is risk free. If Igor believed that everything Sofia told him was true, then the safest option might be to do nothing and fake her death. We can ignore Jade's communication attempts and close the case as is."

That was what Kian had proposed to do from the start, and Turner had been of the same opinion, but they both had been drifting closer and closer to choosing a confrontation.

Kian sighed. "I thought we agreed to send a team of Guardians to scope out the compound's area."

"It was one of the options, but it hasn't been done yet, so you can still change your mind."

"Should I?" Kian rubbed the back of his neck. "I really don't want to open this can of worms. On the other hand, it's always better to deal with a threat before it becomes even more menacing.”

"I think that we should keep gathering information, but we should avoid doing anything rash. We can send the cat on a trip along with Eleanor, who can pose as Sofia, and we can see if she picks up a tail, but we don't engage with the tail. We start monitoring the tail's movements and collect more information."

"What if the tail notices our tail?"

Turner lifted his hands in the air. "As I said, every move we make carries a certain risk, but doing nothing is also risky in the long run. You need to decide what you want to do."

"As usual, you are right. We need to collect information."

36

SOFIA

"Can I take Cecilia with me to my dungeon cell?" Sofia held the cat to her chest as Marcel opened the door to the cottage.

"I think you can." Eleanor patted her arm. "I'll let Anastasia know that she is with you." She turned to Marcel. "You will need to stay around and let Cecilia out to do her business in the yard."

"I have to finish up a few things in the lab, but after I'm done, I can come back here."

Sofia glared at him. "If you don't lock me up, I can take the cat out to pee and poop myself."

Eleanor cast Marcel a pitying glance. "I'll get you two lunch and something for Cecilia. She's been a very good sport about all of this." She turned around and walked back the way they'd come.

Following Marcel down the stairs, Sofia rubbed her chin against the cat fur, eliciting contented purring from her.

If only it was so easy to please Marcel.

His nonanswer to her earlier admission of feelings toward him shouldn't have surprised her. He'd been cold and remote, with occasional flares of slight warmth that hadn't been enough to console her, but they had been enough to keep her hope alive. Marcel also hadn't said that it was over between them, only that the timing was wrong, so perhaps there was still a small chance that he would get over what he perceived as her betrayal, but he was slow to forgive, and she needed him right now.

Sofia was alone, frightened, and needed more than someone else's cat for comfort and support.

"Why do you have to lock me up?" she asked as they entered the bunker's living room. "Didn't I do everything you wanted me to do? Besides, it's not like I have anywhere to go." She grimaced. "And not just because Safe Haven is so isolated. I would have nowhere to go even if we were in the middle of Manhattan."

Looking uncomfortable, Marcel rubbed a hand over his jaw. "Where would you stay? You can't go back to sharing a room with Roxana, and I can't invite you to my bungalow."

"I can stay here. Just don't lock me up, so I can at least let the cat out."

"I need to ask the boss."

She rolled her eyes. "Seriously, Marcel. What am I going to do? Tell the guests of the retreat that I'm the progeny of aliens?"

He looked lost for words.

Sofia plopped down on the couch with the cat in her lap. "When do you need to go to the lab?"

Marcel sat next to her. "I'll go after lunch."

For a long moment they sat together in awkward silence, with the cat's purring the only sound.

"You know that I didn't want to do any of this," Sofia said as she stroked Cecilia's back. "I was compelled, and my family was threatened. If I didn't bring Igor good results, he would have taken it out on my family, and those were not empty threats. He's ruthless. I hated every moment of the deception. And just so you know, my instructions were to ask you to call Igor. I protected you by shifting his attention to Emmett and convincing him that Emmett knew much more than you did. Imagine how bad things would have been if I hadn't. He could have gotten you to reveal everything, and Eleanor wouldn't have been there to stop you."