It was getting harder and harder to keep my face expressionless, but I needed to do this. “We’re going to attack the Desaltis soon. I’ll let you know about all the details. If there are any of you who want to volunteer for this mission, let Oswald know.”

“Um, ma’am?” one of the men asked as I was about to go for the door.

“What?”

“Is Oswald now your second-in-command or...?”

It was too soon for me to make a decision about that, and right now, I couldn’t even think straight. The only thing I wanted was to get out of this damn room. “I don’t have a second-in-command at the moment, but Oswald can handle everything related to our next operation.”

Oswald inclined his head to me when I looked at him across the room. He’d been with us for about four years, but I knew I could trust him with this because he’d lost family members to the Desaltis. Just like Chris Sinders had.

The man who’d asked bowed his head, and I figured those were the only questions I was going to get tonight, so I strode out of the room, trying hard not to break into a run. Once I was in the hallway and no one was around, my chest constricted, and I raced to the first place that I knew I had to see: Brent’s room.

Chapter 18

I CLOSED THE DOOR TO Brent’s room behind me and pressed my back against it. A choked sob escaped my throat, and I let myself slide down to the floor. I pulled up my knees and wrapped my arms around them as tears pooled in my eyes.

“I’m sorry, Hugo,” I said as I looked up at the ceiling, as if he could somehow see or hear me. “I know he was your son, but I didn’t have a choice. You were like a father to me, and I wish you were still here. You’d never let Brent go to the Desaltis.”

I wished none of this had happened. I wished things had gone differently. But unfortunately, it was impossible to change the past.

I sniffled, wiping off my tears. There had to be something in here that would tell me what Brent had been planning to do and why he’d betrayed me. Why had he gone so far as to kill Chris? If I hadn’t known that Chris’ whole family had been murdered by the Desaltis—something Chis had confessed only to Hugo and me—and that Hugo had saved him after he’d been tortured for days for refusing to give up any information to the enemy, the real traitor would still be right beside me.