Mabry considered this is silence for some time, absently adding the flour to the shortbread. At last, she nodded, "I knew something felt off. I thought perhaps the two of you were having trouble. This . . . is more worrisome."

She pushed a loose strand of hair from her face. "Why don't you want Song to know? I would think that her counterpart already does, so there wouldn't be any real harm in telling her." There was a grim weariness in her voice. "Secrecy is their tool, not ours. I don't see how it benefits us not to make use of her skills."