I turn to Constantine, hating how pathetic I look—tears glinting in my eyes, my hands clenched. But he doesn’t even bother turning to me. Instead, he’s looking around the arena itself, at the screaming audience. At those cheering for blood, cheering for him. Then, at the sound ofthose who are shouting their disapproval at punishing Adena. The ones who stay quiet, watching with thoughtful expressions. He knows there are rebels out there, enough of them that General Caitoman has called them a real threat. He knows that they represent the crumbling edges of the Federation, this unsteady empire he is fighting to hold on to.
Beside him, General Caitoman watches the display with approval. This is the spectacle he’s come to see.
Go, Skyhunter, Constantine says, and this time, his voice in my mind is firm.
He knows I have no choice. He can feel the hatred boiling through me at him. Here I am, the most powerful creation in the world, trapped into doing his bidding. Forced to use that power to end the life of her friend.
As if in a daze, I spread my steel wings. I sense the warmth of my glowing eyes. My feet lift off the floor, and the arena gasps audibly as they witness me launch into the air in Adena’s direction. I see the world sprawl below me, feel myself fly through the air as if I’m watching from somewhere far away. As if I’m no longer in my body at all.
Down below, Adena looks up to meet my gaze, and I find myself barely able to return it. She doesn’t flinch. Even when the audience shrinks back as I hurtle down toward the maze and come to a landing on top of the structure, Adena stands her ground with a straight back and level stare.
I crouch above her, my wings spread to their full expanse, blocking out the sun.
But Adena just stares at me with a resigned expression. “Come get it over with,” she signs. It’s a message meant only for me.
The entire arena seems to be holding its breath, waiting for me. I just stay where I am. The threat of what could happen to my mother hovers over me, the ever-persistent cloud, and yet I cannot bring myself to godown there and cut her throat. I can’t bear the thought of my weapons drawing her blood.
Even though I don’t know where Red is, I can feel him watching this moment. Fearing what I’ll be forced to do.
When I lift my eyes, I can see Constantine sitting at his balcony, observing me with that steady expression.
I utter my answer to Constantine through our bond. It is steady, resolute, unshakable.
I won’t do it. I won’t kill her.
There’s a mild current of surprise that comes through the link, followed by a bit of amusement. Constantine ishumoredby my answer. I glare up at him, but he just studies me, testing me.
What about your mother, Talin?he asks me.
I shake my head, not knowing what to do. But I do know this. The certainty of it sears through me in a wave of heat. Constantine’s control of my mother is the only thing he currently has with which to subdue me. But that means, with her, I can also control him. He can’t afford to kill my mother. Without her, his command over me breaks. So this moment is a bet between us. It is us pitted against each other, the Premier and his Skyhunter, each daring the other to back down first.
I don’t dare look directly at the Chief Architect beside him. But even from my peripheral view, I can see her figure turned fully toward me, her focus on what I’ll do.
Adena stares up at me, waiting in the wake of my hesitation. In her gaze, I see the Striker with whom I’ve fought side by side, who had brought me baskets of pies after Corian’s death. Who would fashion endless gadgets to help me stay alive at the warfront. For a moment, we are no longer standing on opposite sides of the divide. We’re companions again.
The crowd around us stirs restlessly, then begins chanting again.Some are chanting for her death; others are chanting something that takes me aback.
Mercy. Mercy.
Constantine rises, then lifts his arms. He raises his voice.
“My Skyhunter moves to defend me,” he calls out, “but for this good performance, this excellent entertainment, I order the life of this Striker spared.” His eyes meet mine again. “May she entertain us again on another day.”
Constantine is sparing Adena’s life.
I don’t know if it’s because he wants to appease the restless crowds, or if he’s sending a message to his people that he can be a merciful ruler. I don’t know if this is his way of reasserting authority, a way to soothe the fraying nerves at the edges of his Federation, or a way to disguise my defiance to the public, that he is actually capitulating to my demand. But I don’t care.
I drop to my knees before him anyway, on top of the maze structure, and bow my head in his direction. My subservience. My obedience to the Premier, on full display.
Mercy granted.
For a terrible moment, I think he will order his soldiers to kill Adena anyway.
But he doesn’t. Instead, he nods at me and folds his arms, as if he expected my reaction all along.
Nearby in the balcony, General Caitoman looks away in disgusted disappointment. The Chief Architect merely folds her arms.
I’m shaking. I don’t know what this will mean for my mother. But if I continue to head down this path, I’ll reach a point of no return. Where I will do something I’ll regret for the rest of my life. Where my own mother would shake her head in grief at my action.
