Margaret quickly stepped between them. “Yes, we already know exactly where we can find Masenak. You have a right to be pissed off that we lied about not already having found his camp yet.”

“You bet I do.” His eyes were blazing in his taut face. “Surprise. Surprise.”

“Alisa felt it was dangerous for us to tell you that we’d already located him, and I agreed with her.” She added to Alisa as she turned away, “Handle it. I have to get back to Sasha. She’s on edge. Make up your mind what you want to tell him. But he’ll have to know everything eventually.” She looked back over her shoulder at Korgan. “I know this isn’t going to be easy for you to understand. We’re doing the best we can.”

“Should I go with you tonight?” Alisa called after her.

“No, we agreed on a division of duties, and this doesn’t change anything. You’d just get upset with seeing Sasha there.” She disappeared into the trees.

“What the hell was all that supposed to mean?” Korgan asked Alisa through set teeth. “It was kind of her to give you a choice what bits of info to share with me, but I’m not feeling nearly as generous at the moment. Particularly after she just casually mentioned that she’s going to drop into Masenak’s camp tonight.” She could almost feel the waves of fury he was emitting. “That’s not going to happen. Do you think I’d risk a blunder like that? You didn’t even mention you knew where it was located, much less the fact you’ve been monitoring what’s going on there. If that’s not a lie, too, it changes everything.” He took a step closer to her. “I told you that I won’t let you do anything that might put Masenak on the run. I won’t lose him.” The words were low but spraying out like bullets. “If you want to have even a chance of me going after those students, you’ll back off now.”

“I can’t back off.” She lifted her chin as she stared into his eyes. “And neither can Margaret. She has to keep watch there tonight, just as she does almost every night. No, I didn’t mention we already knew where he was located. You held all the weapons, and that was the only one I had. I did tell you I had sources. How did I know you wouldn’t go after him yourself if I’d told you any more? I knew how much you wanted to get your hands on him. I was supposed to trust you?”

“Only if you wanted me to go through with the deal you proposed.”

“I’m desperate for you to go through with what you promised. But I’m not a fool. I knew I was going to have trouble with you when I brought you down here. There was no way you were going to understand what’s going on here. But I had to take a chance. Time was running out and you were our only hope.”