“So you’re saying you won’t help us,” Darsal said. She was consumed with the notion that Billos had vanished.

And what if he has? Thomas thought. What if Billos has somehow crossed the breach between worlds? Impossible, of course. Rachelle would have a fit if she knew his thoughts.

“Absolutely not. I should put you in the brink for pushing such a fool’s errand. Not even an idiot would suggest that I risk warriors to find a fighter who’s been lost less than an hour. None of you are idiots, which leads me to believe you’re hiding something from me.”

All three looked at him with unwavering eyes, like deer before the flight.

“Now your silence confirms it,” he snapped. “I’m your commander; tell me what’s going on.”

“It’s nothing,” Darsal said, pulling her eyes away.

“And you’re lying,” Thomas said.

“What she means is that it’s nothing to anyone but us,” Johnis said. “A very private, personal thing. We’ve taken a vow not to whisper a word about it to anyone, but you have my assurance that we will deal with it.”

Interesting. They were hiding more than they could say without breaking their word. That Johnis had confessed this much rather than attempt to cover up further was at least noble.

All of this confirmed Thomas’s suspicion that the four were up to something beyond him, beyond all of them. Why Elyon had chosen these four scrappers was still a mystery to him, but then again, why he himself had been transported from the streets of Denver to this land was a mystery as well. He, a street fighter who’d grown up in Malaysia, elevated into such a position between worlds.

He would treat them as he would any new leaders, but there was more at work here. In time he would know it all, assuming he lived until that time.

“I trust you to keep your loyalties straight,” he said.

“Of course.” Johnis and Silvie dipped their heads. Darsal stared at him, still lost in her own thoughts.

“Yes?” he demanded of her.

“What? Yes . . . yes, of course.”

“Then take this very private, personal thing away from me. And for the sake of Elyon, prove yourselves worthy of the faith I’ve placed in each of you.”

Johnis swung into his saddle. “We will, sir. Rename us the Three Worthy Ones if you wish. Nothing will—”

“Three? There are four of you.”

“Of course, it’s just that there are only three here, now. Four. The Four Worthy Ones.”

Thomas didn’t like the far-off look in Darsal’s eyes, but he didn’t want to push the matter further.