“About what?” I tried.

Kee just tilted her head and gave me an unamused look.

“Torran vowed a life debt to me.”

Kee waved at the other Valoffs still in the room, all of whom were eavesdropping and not even being subtle about it. “They explained that part. Why did he do it?”

“I told him that his promises were putting my team in danger and that I was tired of it. Apparently, a life debt was his solution.”

Kee sighed, and I knew that sigh. I shook a finger at her. “It wasn’t romantic. It was scary and traumatizing, and he won’t take it back, so now we’re bound together until he decides the debt is repaid.”

“It’s a little romantic,” Anja said from my other side.

I spun to face her and caught Eli nodding behind her. I pointed at him. “Not you, too. You punched him in the jaw.”

Eli lifted one shoulder. “He deserved it, but now he seems like he’s making up for it.”

I tossed up my hands. “Traitors, every one of you.”

“A life debt is an extraordinary step,” Chira said quietly. “It was not something he did at the spur of the moment, no matter what you said to him. I’m sure he had been considering it since our meeting with the empress.”

I glanced at her and found Varro and Nilo nodding along with her words. “Is it true that he doesn’t have to do what I tell him?”

Chira chuckled. “Does he seem like the type to do what you tell him?” She laughed again and then shook her head when she saw that I was serious. “A life debt is complicated, but it won’t force him to act against his will. Order him around all you want—it won’t do anything.”

“Except amuse the rest of us,” Kee added. “Though him having to obey your orders would’ve been fun, too.”

“No, it wouldn’t,” I murmured.

She cocked her head at me, and I saw the exact moment the lightbulb went off. “You and him—oh.” She scowled. “Oh. Yeah, that would be bad if he couldn’t say no.”

“You want to enlighten the rest of us?” Eli asked.

“No, she does not,” I interrupted before Kee could speak. “Where are we on the investigation?”

“My script is almost done,” Kee said. “I haven’t found any sign of Morten, but I’m still looking.”

Lexi said, “I’m tracking down a possible lead on the monitoring station, but I haven’t found anything else.”

“Something good?” I asked.

She shook her head. “I don’t know yet.”

“We haven’t found anything, either,” Eli said. Over the comm, he continued, “If FHP is here, they’re staying well under the radar.”