“Get back, Elle!” Gabe screams from somewhere behind me.
The relentless ice needling through my veins overtakes any relief I might’ve felt at the sound of his voice. With no small amount of effort, I lift my head to see my ex-husband sprinting down the hill, a second missile in hand. As he stokes the igniter, I’m hit with the sobering realization that he intends to strike again—except this time, there will be no chance that Kalden and his friends will escape the blast.
I can’t let that happen.
I crawl closer to the three Sols, banking on the hope that Gabe hasn’t yet realized that I’m one of them. And if he has, maybe his lingering feelings for me will be enough to give him pause.
Mercifully, Gabe pulls the igniter away from the missile’s wire, pocketing it before closing the remaining distance between us.
“Elle!” He doesn’t wait for me to respond as he grabs underneath my arms, hoisting me away from Kalden, Niles, and Joss.
“Let me go.” My words are a raspy mutter, but Gabe must hear them, because he stills.
“They’re Sols, Elle! Didn’t you see? They’re marked by thesun’s mutation!”
Jerking away from his slackened grip, I angle my body between Gabe and the Sols, slowly backstepping. “Don’t pretend like you don’t know the truth. Sols aren’t the monsters that your father and all the chancellors before him have portrayed them to be.”
“What are you talking about?” Gabe’s pitch heightens. “Did you not see how they killed those women back in the meadow? How can you defend that?”
“Pyres did that, not Sols.”
“Pyres?”
“Shadows’ mercy, Gabe! You can drop the act. I know about the lies. How everything we’ve been taught about Sols is really a twisted truth about Pyres. That exposure to the sun alone doesn’t take away a person’s humanity unless they channel too much of its energy. That it’s all a ploy to keep us trapped below and your family seated in power.”
“Didhetell you that?” Gabe asks, nudging his chin towards Kalden.
“He told me about the Pyres, but I pieced the rest together myself.”
Gabe huffs an exasperated breath. “And you believe him?”
“I do,” I say firmly, gaze narrowing on Gabe’s hand as it returns to the igniter in his pocket.
“He’s the one who lied to you, Elle. How can you not see that? I don’t know what kind of magic he’s been using to disguise himself as human, but just because he doesn’t look like the other abominations doesn’t mean he isn’t one.”
A spark comes to life at the end of the igniter, and I brace my hands on either side of my helmet. If any evidence of my earlier exposure lingers on my face, it could either stoke the man into firing the second missile or force him to think twice about his demonization of Sols. Hoping for the latter, I tug off the headgear, throwing it into the sand between us.
“If he’s an abomination, then so am I.”
Gabe falters a step, lowering both hands. “W-What did you do?”
“Found a way to survive.”
“No.” He drops both the missile and igniter before rushing forward to pick up my discarded helmet, dusting it off. “No, we can fix this. We have to! Before it’s too late.”
Without meeting my gaze, Gabe tries to hand me the headgear, as if I took it off by accident. I stare at the lump of anodized aluminum without accepting it and note my reflection in its cracked lens. Even beneath the false night, my usual amber irises are alight with a fading gold.
“Elle, please,” Gabe begs as I make no move to grab the helmet from him. “You can’t let them see you!”
“If you’re worried about the cameras, you’re too late. They’ve already captured my confession. And I have no intention of putting that back on.”
A tremor shakes through his clenched grip, though his eyes remain downcast. “You have to. I won’t let you destroy yourself like this. I can’t stand here and watch you become a monster.”
His fear is palpable, and I don’t think he’s faking it.
Which means Chancellor Bren has also kept the truth from his son.
“I’m not destroying myself. The reaction is temporary. Look at me, Gabe,” I plead softly. And when his head finally lifts, I give him a reassuring smile. “See? It’s already fading.”
