I lean back in my seat, assessing her. Is she challenging me?
“A pardon isn’t enough to get you your job back.”
Her hand cuts through the air like a dismissive blade. “That’s not why I’m here, but it brings me joy to hear you defend your position. I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Seeing you sit where he sat, you remind me of him. Moran must be proud.”
I wince. The phantom pain of Dad’s betrayal is still fresh, though it’s been almost a year since he was convicted of assassinating President Sinclair. I’ve visited him with Mom twice in the past five months, and we try to get along, primarily for her sake. But I don’t think Dad and I will ever have a good relationship.
“What do you want, Marlowe? I was in the middle of a meeting,” I say, uncrossing, and re-crossing my legs.
She gives me a pointed look. “That was work? It looked more like a social hour to me, but whatever. You’re in charge.”
“That’s right, I am, and seeing as you no longer work here, you’re trespassing. So tell me what you want, or leave.” Despite my words, curiosity gnaws at me.
“That’s why I am here,” Marlowe begins in a softer, almost hesitant, voice. “I am leaving.”
I blink. A part of me doesn’t want her to go, a surprising realization that catches me off guard. “Where will you go?”
She shrugs, picking up a stapler, then an empty coffee mug from my desk that used to belong to her and setting them down, her fingers lingering on each one as if saying goodbye. “I hear Amro is nice this time of year.”
“What’s there?” I ask. Amro is the southernmost city in Corona. It is a vacation spot. I’ve never known Marlowe to relax.
She sighs. “A fresh start.”
My heart lurches. Ever since I took the job as the head of the precinct, it has never felt right without Marlowe working here. I always expected to wake up one day and have her tell me she got her old job back, and I’d have no choice but to accept it because the order came from a higher authority than mine.
Somehow, her telling me she is leaving town for good hits harder than the thought of her taking back the position I currently hold—a position I convinced myself was temporary, but now I want to keep. She is the reason I am sitting in Dad’s old chair. She made my childhood bearable and my return to Borealis tolerable after his arrest last summer.
Even though Borealis is no longer home to her after Chiron’s imprisonment, I still thought she’d stay for me. Though I will never admit that aloud. Pallas is the only connection to her past life. Now, even he has a new job on the right side of the law.
Trying to mask my disappointment, I say, “Well, if you came to say goodbye, you could have just texted.”
Marlowe narrows her eyes like a predator. “Quit being a little shit, or I won’t give you your gift.”
Marlowe reaches into the pocket of her riding pants and retrieves a small, black box. When she tosses it to me, I catch it, turning it over in my hand. The smooth surface cools against my skin.
“Are you proposing?” I joke.
“Open it,” she encourages after I do nothing but stare.
I lift the box lid, finding a platinum pentacle pin inside. My gaze meets hers, and Marlowe folds her arms in a gesture of finality. “The commander’s pin.”
She grins. “Now, you can stop embarrassing yourself by wearing that pewter piece of shit the president gave you. Here.”She takes the pin out of the box and gestures to my chest. “May I?”
I nod, unable to speak. Marlowe is passing the torch to me, someone she trusted as an acolyte. I never expected being the commander rather than her Domna, but I didn’t foresee Marlowe being Nyx either. It’s funny how things always work out, even in the bleakest days.
Marlowe’s ocher eyes mist as she hovers over me. “I’m sorry for bringing up Moran earlier. You two have had a rough relationship, but someone needs to say it. I am proud of you, Wilder. I watched you grow up, protecting your sister with a fierceness and loyalty I admired. Seeing you sit in this chair because you’ve extended that loyalty to your country makes me smile. Caring for you and Desiree while you were kids was never a burden. I hope you know that. It was a bright spot for me. I wanted you to be my Domna; that is no secret. But now . . . I see you are exactly where you belong.”
After removing my fake pin and replacing it with the real one, Marlowe adds, “There. Much better.”
Thanks to the symbolism and Marlowe’s confession, I gaze down at the shiny pin to mask the emotion in my eyes as my world spins.
This pin represents leadership and stability. Her giving it to me shows how much she still believes in me, even though I’ve made it clear I no longer believe in her. But that was to protect myself. Ever since she chose me that night, we surrendered to the wolves, and a huge part of me forgave her for what she did. She wanted to make the world a better place for the Nebula, like me, and I can’t fault her for that, but she went about it the wrong way.
So much has changed since Marlowe almost suspended me after Soter accused me of being Nyx at the Harvest Festival. It turned out she was Nyx, which prompted me to get the job at thepalace, where I met and fell for Leigh. I should thank her for my relationship bliss.
“Thank you.”
Marlowe bobs her head in reply.
