"Can you help us become Daemons too?"
Simon studied Akaza for a moment.
He had expected that question. After everything they had seen and heard, he would have been disappointed if neither of them had asked.
In fact, he had already decided to help them.
However, that decision had little to do with trust.
He still did not trust them.
Sonya and Akaza had followed him for months. They had fought beside him, suffered with him, and remained when leaving might have been easier.
But his former companions had spent decades doing much the same.
Then they had betrayed him.
Why should less than a year with these two prove more than all those years had? He could appreciate what they had done without handing them the means to end him.
Even Elara's sacrifice had not changed that.
It had shown him that such loyalty existed, but it had not promised he would receive it.
Simon's gaze moved briefly toward Akaza's stiff arm.
Trust aside, he needed them.
