She’s breathing, barely. But thank the Goddesses, she’s alive.
Why does that fill me with bliss? She almost killed my brother, us all…
Sai flits beside me. His eyes narrow as he peers down at her, tilting his head. “She should be dead,” he mutters, more to himself than me. Then in our minds.“Do we... Do we take her to the Pit?”
A normal response, standard protocol. We always take high value targets to the Pit, a middle realm, a prison. A place of torture where time is slower, and the interrogations can last longer.
So why does Sai even ask? And why does he sound so… revolted?
“She’s a threat.”I didn’t even notice Julien flitting to us.“We should—”Hepauses, hesitating. It’s so unlike him.“It would be wise to… not let her wake.”
Why can’t he say it? If she wakes, she could send us all to the ground again, she could kill Kane. So we need to ki—
She murmurs, and every head turns to her. Even Kane, pale and weak, flits to us at the sound.
Her words are so soft, so broken. They don’t quite reach my ears yet… they reach somewhere deeper.
I feel them.
My fingers brush her bloodied cheek, I don’t even remember deciding to do it, I just… wanted to touch her.
Prospero’s beside us, looking down at her in my arms. “It’s done. The rune is settling.”
I stare at her.
At the woman who nearly destroyed us.
At the woman who is an enemy.
At the woman I am terrified to let go.
“What did they do to you?” I murmur.
She was running, I remember. Something had entered the district, and we tracked it to her. She flitted so quickly, like her life depended on it, because the Cloaks were after her too. We intercepted them, killed them and she finally stopped flitting. And then… we were in The Divide.
And now…
She’s wearing our enemies’ clothing. A heavy green cloak.
She’s my enemy. Our enemy.
We’ve killed countless before, so why can’t I—
Why can’t I?
She convulses.Horrified, I search her body for the reason, desperate to stop it.
“What the fuck is happening?” I rush out, seeking out Prospero. “Is it the rune?”
“No,” he breathes, looking just as scared. “No… that’s already settled, this is something else.”
“A compulsion.” Julien kneels, studying Jasmine’s shuddering body. “We’ve seen this before, death before capture, it’s the Order’s fail-safe.”
He touches her throat, his fingers lingering. “She’s dying.” His hand twitches. “I could ki—”
No.
“I’ll erase it.” The words are out before I fully think them.
