I blew out a slow breath. I might be furious and hurt, but despite all my talk of volcanoes, I didn’t want Torran dead, if for no other reason than his nephew was going to need all the support he could get once he returned home. “Why the change of heart?”

He shook his head. “It’s not a change. I told you yesterday that no one was going to die. The preparations were underway, but tonight was the soonest I could get you out. I had hoped . . .”

When he didn’t finish the thought, I prompted, “Had hoped what?”

“I had hoped that Cien would be found before you needed to leave,” he said.

I stared at him for a long moment, weighing his sincerity. It could’ve easily been emotional manipulation, but it didn’t feel like it. I tapped the table while I thought. “Tell me how you plan to get us out,” I said at last.

“I have an acquaintance who makes regular supply runs to Bastion. She is strong enough to shield you from detection, and her ship is outfitted with appropriate hiding places if the authorities start searching.”

“She’s a smuggler.”

Torran nodded. “One of the best.”

I watched him carefully. “If we don’t go tonight, could she get us out later?”

“Her normal supply run is next week, and that was my original alternative plan. But the longer you wait, the more danger you’ll face.” He met my eyes, his expression calm and clear. “You should go tonight.”

“Did you really make the empress vow to let us go if we find your nephew?”

Torran sighed. “She made the vow, but Chira and I are the only witnesses.”

I filled in the blanks for what he refused to say. “So if you were to sadly perish during the rescue, no one would know about the promise.” I scoffed. “That’s one way to treat personal honor.”

Torran’s eyes darkened, but he didn’t comment one way or the other.

“Did your sister really want to marry into that family?”

“My sister and I are . . . not close. I cannot speak to her decision process.”

I took a deep breath and blew it out slowly, then dropped my eyes to the table as I thought. Torran had been keeping secrets from the beginning, but I believed that his offer to get us out was genuine. So should we stay or go?

The pragmatic half of my brain wanted to leave immediately, as soon as I could gather my team and get us to safety. But a child’s life was at stake, and none of this was Cien’s fault. If we left, would Torran be able to find his nephew before something terrible happened to him?