“Talen,” Milo says as he returns to his seat beside Ava, “why don’t you explain?”
I take a deep breath as I glance at Aerin. She reaches over and quietly takes my hand, squeezing it gently.
“My name is Theo LaGrange, and I am Harrison LaGrange’s son.”
“Told you that’s who he was,” Will mutters.
“I am,” I reply to him and then address the rest of the group, “but that doesn’t mean I’m not the same person you’ve always known.”
“No, it means you’re the offspring of the person I’ve always hated.” Will glares at me and looks like he might follow Milo’s lead and come over to punch me.
“You don’t hate him as much as I do,” I reply. “I can promise you that.”
“Do you really think your promises mean anything to me?”
“Will,” Samuel says with a low growl, “let the man speak.”
“You really are the son of the president?” Ava asks.
“I am,” I tell her. “I couldn’t tell you.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m a fugitive,” I say. “Because if I told you who I was, it would have put you in danger.”
“You didn’t think you could trust me?” Ava blinks back tears.
“It’s not a matter of trusting you,” I say. “If anyone figured out who I was, and if they knew I had told you, that information could have been used against you. I’d never let myself be captured alive, but if they threatened someone I cared about…I just couldn’t let that happen.”
“I heard that the president’s family was all dead,” Milo says. “Can you explain that?”
I tell Ava, Milo, and the others about my father’s treachery, my imprisonment, and my escape. A few times, Ava or Milo stop me to ask a question or to get clarification, but the others all remain silent.
“I was only trying to keep you safe,” I tell her. “I just wanted to keep everyone safe.”
“You didn’t keep us safe.”
I look at Will and nod my head.
“I know I didn’t,” I tell him, “but I only found that out later. Learning that he’d lied about the new settlement in the West is what prompted me to speak out against him. That’s why he tried to get rid of me.”
“Why are you telling us everything now?” Milo asks. “Aren’t you still putting us in danger?”
“I was presumed dead,” I tell him. “My father told everyone I died, and I think he probably believed I perished somewhere in the wilderness outside the capital, but now he knows different. While we were in the complex under the mountain, the men who attacked us recognized me. By now, my father knows I’m alive, so I’m not sure that it matters so much anymore. He already knows I’m here. He’s probably sent people out looking for me, and you are already in danger.”
“So, you’re putting us all in danger now just by being here,” Will says.
“I’m warning you for the last time, boy,” Samuel says.
“He has a point,” Milo says. “If the Thaves are looking for you, they will probably find us.”
“What you know about me doesn’t make a lot of difference now,” I tell him, “but you’re right. It’s all the more reason to get you far away from here. West isn’t an option, and I don’t think he’ll bother following us north.”
“Why not?” Milo asks.
“Because he doesn’t want the north,” I say. “He wants the valley, and he’s already taken it. He wants me out of the way. He wants all of us out of the way. If he gets what he wants, he won’t waste time and resources chasing after us.”
“You don’t know that for sure.”