Free The Illusionists by Laure Eve Page A

you.’
    Protect
, thought White,
with white-hot bile. Yes. Protect your little turncoat Talent pet.
    But Frith had deflated him. He was too tired to keep this up.
    You win again.
    One day, I’ll win.
    He looked at the group. They were slouched miserably in their chairs. Tulsent was actually trembling. He felt his wrath fade. They hadn’t understood what Wren was. Sometimes they were sweet, and clever. Sometimes they were arrogant and stupid. But they were not treacherous, and they had never meant to cause harm.
    They were not like White.
    Frith moved in front of him, blocking his eyesight. White could hear him speaking to the group gently, herding them up towards the door.
    â€˜Is that what happened to Rue, then?’ came Lea’s voice.
    White stared hard at the wall opposite.
    â€˜No one told us why she left,’ said Lea again, nervous, defiant. ‘She was my friend. No one even bothered to tell me. Was it  …  Was it because of this boy?’
    â€˜I am sorry,’ White said. It was all he could manage.
    He heard Frith talking to her quietly, but not what was said.
    Together they slunk out of the room. He watched Frith turn towards him. Incredibly, Frith had a wary expression on his face.
    â€˜You need to eat. And sleep,’ he said. ‘You don’t look good.’
    â€˜Why were they not interrogated, like me? If you had done so, we would have found out about this sooner. He was trying to
recruit
them!’
    Frith took a moment.
    â€˜I’m sorry about the questioning,’ he said, eventually. ‘But you have to understand, after I reported that Rue had gone, there were some concerns from my superiors. Concerns only you could address. It hasn’t escaped anyone’s notice that it is you in particular who Wren seems to enjoy attacking.’
    White folded his arms, trying to hold himself in.
    â€˜Did you know he could do that? Infiltrate people’s dreams.’
    â€˜No,’ said White, exasperated. ‘I told them in the interrogation, no. I had no idea. He never told me about it.’
    â€˜So I take it that it’s not something you can do.’
    â€˜No. I did not even know it was possible.’
    Silence fell for a moment.
    â€˜You are not attempting to find Rue, are you?’ said White. ‘Despite her treason?’
    Frith regarded him. His face was a careful, inscrutable mask.
    â€˜All you need to know’, he said at last, ‘is that she won’t be coming back to Angle Tar. Ever. Which I think is for the best, don’t you? Considering your recent history with her.’
    â€˜You do not even
care
that she has betrayed everyone?’ White said, his voice rising, rising without any way of pulling back. ‘You will just let her go? Just like that? You JUST –’
    He stopped. The world swayed, and he swayed with it.
    â€˜Sit down, White.’
    He felt his back slap against the wall. His thighs bunched, trying to stop him from falling, and he managed a half-slide to the ground.
    Frith was watching him. Frith was thinking how pathetic he was. But it was impossible to stop. Thinking of something else didn’t help. He bit the inside of his cheek, took hold of a pinch of rib flesh between his fingers and squeezed as hard as he could. It hurt. He could feel it. But the pain was just a flash, just an instant, and the more he did it, the less it helped, until all it did was bruise his skin.
    And then he felt a hand on his arm. And then Frith was pulling him, and he felt himself slide into Frith’s arms. Frith held him in silence.
    It was very strange to feel him. Head resting on his chest, casually, as if it was supposed to be there. Frith’s breathing was regular and soft, and it helped. He was a small man, but his arms were tight and unyielding – it was like being wrapped in iron bars instead of flesh.
    White calmed. Slowed.
    A sudden memory flashed into his mind, of the day Frith had told