A Partisan's Fight - COMPLETED!

Chapter Sixty-One

The next few days were a blur. Everything was being pushed into motion. Jyrgen was brought over frequently to discuss strategies. He had been told mostly everything by Aldrik already. Mina wasn't sure if she liked that, but she was willing to trust his instincts. It was about time she did.

Something had changed about the young man, however. Mina couldn't quite put her finger on it, but it drew her curiosity. Waiting until they were alone in the room, she moved her way over to him. "Aldrik trusts you, can I?"

Jyrgen stopped cleaning a knife and looked at her. "You have known me for years, Mina. Have you ever doubted my loyalty before all of this?"

Clearing her throat, she laid a hand on the knife. The motion stopped him from cleaning it, drawing his gaze directly to hers. "When we came back to town, you had made it clear that you would not risk your life to stop what was happening. What has changed?"

Swallowing, he stood up straighter, moving his hands away from the weapon. "I will not lie to you, Mina. When Aldrik came to me, I thought he was crazy. He told me not to say no until I saw what was happening in the camps from a guard's point of view. I was curious and decided to see what would happen. I had seen most of what was happening before working there. It is cruel, but I still was not convinced that I needed to join your cause. Until..."

"Until?" Mina's eyes didn't shift from his. She listened to everything, not just what he was saying, but what he wasn't saying. She read between the lines, weighing out everything.

"Until I met Penny." He looked away from her. "She is so passionate about helping those people. She was willing to risk her safety for others. I was ashamed of my hesitation. Ashamed that I had an opportunity to do good and was willing to turn a blind eye. She was what changed my mind."

Mina waited until Jyrgen looked up at her. He licked his lips; his gaze set on her but focused somewhere else. "You can trust me. I will not screw this up."

Scrutinizing him with a look, she continued to weigh everything out. Finally, she broke the stare and let out a whoosh of air from her lungs. "Okay. I believe you."

He watched her for a moment, his brow arching. "Just like that?"

"Just like that." She stepped back from the counter he was by, further proving she meant no threat.

"What if I made that whole story up?" The cockiness began revealing itself as he stepped back, folding his arms across his chest.

"Did you?" Mina let the breaths come and go from her nose slowly. She'd patiently wait for his answer.

"Did I what?" Shaking his head, he gave a blank stare.

Mina arched a brow, crossing her arms in front of herself as well. "Did you make that whole story up?"

"No. But what if I would have?" He shot back quickly.

"I would have gutted you, Jyrgen. You have a special place in my heart, but I do not take betrayal well." Her words were harsh, cold. A slow, dangerous smile darkened her face. "Welcome on board."

"You make this sound worse than Aldrik." He grimaced, going back to cleaning the knife. "At least Penny makes this fun."

Mina rolled her eyes. She turned as a smile gentled her face. "Women usually do."

She could hear him snort at her comment, but she had other places to be. Tomorrow was the big day and she didn't have time to waste giving Jyrgen the third degree — either he was with them or against them. At this point, she was pretty sure he was with them. Maybe it was intuition, or, maybe it was the fact that they weren't being arrested and lined up for execution.