Last night changed nothing. It just made me face some hard truths.
I didn’t want him to die. I wanted to keep him.
A dreamer’s hope, of course—nigh impossible—and my abused heart had already begun to ache at the impending loss.
When I returned, headquarters looked the same, yet entirely different. Prisoners had been given cots that lined the hallways. Eventually, they’d be taken to safe houses, but each needed an examination and treatment before being cleared for transfer.
I tiptoed through the hall, hoping to reach my tiny private sleeping space before anyone saw me. Theo, however, caught me at the top of the stairs. His stern face took in my appearance—oversized sweats, ratted hair—and his mouth turned down.
“I expected you back last night,” he said.
“I got distracted.”
His penetrating stare saw far too much, so my gaze dropped to his feet. Hiding like a coward.
“My office,” he said and turned.
I followed him with hands wringing, wishing I’d at least had a chance to brush my teeth. He shut and locked the door of his office behind him, then took his place at the desk.
He didn’t sit, so I didn’t either. “Does he have any additional information for us?” he asked.
“He…wasn’t exactly in a good state of mind last night.”
His attention lingered on my mess of hair. “Celebrating, was he?”
Heat spiked through my nerves. “Mourning,” I snapped. “Actually.”
A skeptical wrinkle formed on his brow. “Mourning? You believe that?”
“Unequivocally.”
Disgust and pity warred in his expression. “How many people did he execute?”
My eyes narrowed. “The same number you failed to rescue.” A vicious satisfaction coursed through me when his eye twitched. In his silence, I asked, “Have you ever considered why Lucas performs so many executions, Theo?”
“Because he’s efficient, obviously.”
I rolled my eyes. “Right. Why do you think he chooses to be efficient when the others torture first?”
Scoffing, he brushed me off with a wave of his hand. “Don’t start acting like Lucas Scott kills innocent people as some kind of, what,charity?”
“Those people are condemned to die, regardless. At least he?—”
“If he were truly decent, he never would’ve risen to a position to do it at all. He didn’t stumble into his rank, Sophia. You’re forgetting who he is and where he came from.”
How dare he patronize me? I hadn’t forgotten anything. Theo was the one who didn’t understand the full picture. “You don’t even know who he is. You’re such a hypocrite.”
“This is war, Sophia.” He rapped his knuckles on his desk to emphasizewar. “They’re a regime that supports totalitarianism. Supports subjugating women.”
I crossed my arms. “I know, but this isn’t black and white. Lucas Scott isn’t purely evil. His actions have reasons.”
“What could possibly excuse?—”
“How many people haveyoukilled?”
Theo’s mouth tightened. “That is irrelevant.”
“Irrelevant when it’s convenient for you.”
