The woman looks back at me, tears streaming down her face. “Please. She’s all I have. If she’s in there, if she’s alive, please just tell her I’m looking. Tell her to come home.”
My throat tightens. I want to help. I want to promise I’ll search. I want to give her something. But I can’t. Because if Mara is here, she’s not mine to save. She’s someone else’s. Bound. Claimed. Lost.
Just like me.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper.
The woman sobs once, then presses her forehead to the fence. “Please.”
Armen’s hand finds my shoulder. “We’re done here.”
He pulls me back, turns me around. Sting stays at the fence for a moment longer, watching the woman. Then he follows.
I glance back once.
The woman is still there, gripping the wire, watching me walk away.
I don’t speak until we’re back inside, the perimeter door locked behind us.
“What if she’s here?” I ask. Voice small.
Armen doesn’t slow. “Then she’s not your problem.”
“But—”
“Vi.” He stops, turns to face me. “You start looking for her, you put yourself at risk. Other crews won’t like you poking around their Runts. And if you find her and she’s with someone dangerous, what then? You think we’re going to start a war over your old friend?”
I swallow. “No.”
“Good.” He starts walking again. “Let it go.”
Sting steps closer, voice quieter. “If she’s alive, she’s surviving. Same as you. That’s all you can hope for.”
I nod slowly.
But the image of Mara’s mother, gripping the fence, begging, stays burned in my head. I know what it’s like to have unanswered questions.
67
VI
I goto my room after. Mara came looking for me.
My father left evidence hidden somewhere. The older woman wants to help me find it. And I’m stuck here. Bound. Protected. Owned.
I could pursue both. Search for Mara. Search for my father’s truth. But it would mean defying the guys. Risking everything. Maybe dying.
And for what?
Answers that won’t bring my father back. Answers that won’t change the fact that I’m Rot-bound now. Answers that might get me killed before I even find them.
I close my eyes, exhale slowly. I’m not ready to die for answers.
Not yet. Maybe not ever.
I don’t know how long I sit there before the curtainmoves. Armen steps inside, Sting and Rogue behind him. They don’t speak. Just look at me.
I stand slowly. “I’m not going after her.”
