I tipped my face up to his, interested to see exactly what he had planned. I didn’t get the chance to find out, though, because in the next breath, Nilo slid back a meter and a half.

As soon as Torran’s power let him go, Nilo winked at me. Torran growled something that I didn’t catch, but it didn’t seem to dampen Nilo’s spirits.

“Did you need something?” Torran demanded. “Or did you just come to bother my guests?”

At the reminder, Nilo’s apologetic mask reappeared as if the last few minutes had never happened. “I’m so sorry to interrupt,” he said to me, “but I’m afraid I must speak to Torran alone.”

“Is it about the theft? If so, then I would like to be updated as well.”

“I’m afraid I can’t say,” Nilo said, the picture of polite contrition.

Torran’s eyes went distant as he and Nilo silently communicated. Torran frowned, then his gaze cut to me. “I’m sorry, but I must deal with this. I will show you the office later. Until then, please feel free to explore the public part of the house.”

Translation: leave the family hallway so I can have a secret meeting with the person who stabbed Lexi in the back. Message received, loud and clear.

I pasted on my fakest, sharpest smile. “Find me when you’re done. I still have questions about the theft—the one you hired me to solve and then refused to talk about.”

Torran’s expression didn’t change, but Nilo watched us with sharp eyes. Torran bowed slightly and gestured toward the end of the hall. “This will take you back to the main part of the house. The guest wing will be to your right. I will message you when I’m free.”

“You’ll have to come find me because my comm doesn’t work here.”

Torran frowned at me. “Of course it does. It’s dual-tech.”

It took me a second to realize that he meant the comm he’d given me, the one I hadn’t figured out how to return yet. Feeling vindictive after being summarily dismissed, I pulled out my original comm, battered and held together with composite tape. “It doesn’t and it’s not.”

Torran’s expression blanked into careful nothingness, and guilt slithered through my system. Spitefulness was uncalled for, no matter how frustrated I was. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I will find you later to discuss the theft.”

I turned to leave, but Torran caught my wrist, his grip gentle. Nilo disappeared into one of the rooms lining the hallway—presumably Torran’s office—and the door closed behind him.

“Is there something wrong with the comm I gave you?” Torran asked, his gaze intense.

My eyes slid away from his. “No, not as far as I know.”

His fingers flexed around my wrist. “Then why aren’t you using it?”