"How?"
"Zara! This is a slippery slope! We could all end up dead, including the babies!" Sean frets.
"We're dying if we don't!" I argue.
Zara glances between us, then lifts her chin toward Sean. "You think you can fix it from the inside?"
"Yes."
"How?" She arches her eyebrows.
Tense silence forms.
"You can't. You know you can't. You'll always be hunting and dodging. We all will," I insist.
He pins his green eyes on me. "I don't know any other way."
Zara softly asks, "Do you think this is what your father envisioned?"
He casts a pained expression on her. Defeat fills his voice. "No. Unless he was a sick bastard instead of who I knew him to be."
Silence stretches through the room.
Zara's voice softens even further. "Then why are you still trying to save something that doesn't deserve to exist?"
"I'm not trying to save it. I'm trying to keep us alive."
"There's only one way. Brax is right," she affirms.
Sean's jaw flexes, like he's chewing through twenty years of inherited duty.
She adds, "Let's talk to Kirill. He's the only one who knew your father well enough to speak on his intentions."
He swallows hard. "What if this is what my father wanted?"
A chill runs down my spine.
Zara steps forward and puts her hand on his cheek. "Is this what you want for our children?"
He shakes his head. "No."
"Then you have your answer."
He inhales deeply, then slowly nods.
She pins her gaze on me. "We need to speak to Kirill, Fiona, and Valentina. If we're going to do this, the six of us all need to be on the same page."
"Zara—"
"What, Sean?" She spins, eyes narrowing.
He drags a hand down his face. "This could backfire. The chances of it blowing up in our faces are higher than success."
Zara crosses her arms. "There's no other option."
My pulse bangs between my ears.
He finally agrees. "Okay. But if we do this, there's no going back. And we don't know what Fiona and Kirill will say."
