Ender doesn’t look at me. “This doesn’t involve you, Warrick.”
“She wanted to leave, and she is free to do that,” I say. “She is my sister.Mine.”
He finally looks at me, and I worry that he is about to dig into me, too.
“Leave her out of it,” Gray says, taking a protective step towards me. “This was my call. She had nothing to do with it.”
Ender’s focus settles on him again.
“You’re very fond of bad calls, Sullivan,” Ender says snidely. “This one could cost youeverything.”
I tire of this conversation. I wrap my fingers around Ender’s forearm, dragging him to the closest corner. My nails dig in because he deserves to hurt after that. I’m half-surprised that he lets me pull him away. I expected him to resist.
“You’re going to stop this,” I say, stabbing my finger into his chest with each word. “Right. This. Second. Vale.”
“You want me to drop it?” Ender asks. “You want Sullivan to get off scot-free for kidnapping your sister?”
“It wasn’t kid?—”
“Answer the question,” he cuts me off.
“Yes,” I say, between clenched teeth. “I do.”
“Kiss me,” he says. His tone sharp and caustic.
“What?” I whisper.
“Here, whilehe watches, kiss me,” Ender says.
“But my sister is right there. My friends will be confused,” I say. “That doesn’t makeanysense.”
“Your lipstick is smeared,” Ender says. His fists fold beside him. “It’s on his cheek.”
“I was thanking him for this great night, for making me happy, and for helping me bring Mercy along. Everything was perfect until you showed up,” I say. “You can’t help it, can you? Your need to destroy.”
My throat tightens, and it takes everything in me not to slide out the gun in his holster and shoot him in the head. They confiscated our weapons before we entered. But of course, the rules don’t apply to the great Ender Vale.
“Sixty years of prison or one kiss,” Ender says coldly. “The choice is yours.”
“I hate you,” I choke out. “I hate you so much it hurts.”
Ender’s fingers drift along my cheek, tenderly, devoutly.
“I need you,” he whispers. “So much it hurts.”
“Then why do you hurt me?” I ask.
“I could ask you the same thing,” he replies.
Ender turns back around and returns to the group. He exchanges a few clipped words with Grayson, who nods in response, clearly not wanting to ruffle his feathers anymore. A server arrives with a payment machine. Ender draws out his Smart Card before Grayson can settle the bill and clicks it once.
“Come,” Ender says. Fingers wrapping around my wrist. “I’m taking you home.”
“What did you say to Grayson?”
“He will be punished for this, but he won’t go to prison,” Ender replies. “Even though I think he deserves it. A few years at Knife’s Edge would set his head on straight.”
Knife’s Edge is the worst prison in New Foundry. Two others compete for that title, but Knife’s Edge wins by a landslide. It is poorly funded and built at the edge of the Wastes. The walls are half-ice, and limbs are cut off at the root from frostbite every month.
