“I know. I’m going to do it right away.” It’s the last thing in the world I want to do now.
It’s the last thing in the world I want to doanytime.
“Let me do it for you,” Ben bursts out.
I blink as I peer at him. There’s no obvious evidence in his expression, but I know he’s still upset. He’s as upset right now as I am.
“I can do it. Give it to me.”
I clear my throat, so tempted it takes several seconds for me to get the next thing said. “Thank you. But no. It has to be me.”
I takeanother minute to say goodbye to Troy, but then I gesture toward Vella near the entrance of the building.
It doesn’t take long for her to go inside and return, dragging a visibly scared Jasper by the arm.
I can see the urge to flee on his face, so I’m not surprised when he yanks himself out of Vella’s grip and starts running.
Ben grabs him easily before he gets more than a few feet away and then pulls him over to stand in front of me.
“It wasn’t my fault!”
I ignore this and speak loud enough to be heard by everyone who has gathered around to watch but without any particular inflection. “Do you have a friend who knows Robin?”
“No. I’m sorry. I’ve got a friend who’s a guard, and he had the idea. Thought maybe the idea of Robin would get you to come. The president is in an uproar about you and was offering a big reward.”
“So they bribed you to betray us?”
He must realize his desperate ramblings revealed too much because he backtracks quickly. “No, no, I’m not greedy. I felt… I mean, they were really bullying me to help out. It wasn’t the reward. I didn’t know anyone would get hurt.”
“You must have known I’d be captured and then killed. And so would everyone with me. Including Troy, your cousin.”
“I didn’t want that to happen! But it’s really his own fault! He should have?—”
He can’t say anything else because I’ve pulled my pistol out of its holster and shot him square in the middle of his forehead.
He drops. Dead. In no more than three seconds.
I holster my gun, feeling sicker than ever. I glance toward Ben but then have to look away before the deep sympathy I can see in his eyes makes me soft.
I can never be soft.
“It had to be done,” Vella says. “He was a traitor.”
I can tell from the timbre of her voice that she’s saying this for everyone else’s benefit and not for mine.
“He was,” I agree. “He betrayed us and put all of us in danger. That’s something I’ll never allow.”
I look around at the gathered faces and see not a single one that appears surprised or disapproving.
Like me, they mostly look exhausted and sad.
“Tony, can you and Georgie take care of Troy’s body? We’ll bury him tomorrow morning. And I’ll need a few volunteers to take Jasper’s body back to his village. You’ll need to be careful on the road—pretend to be traders or something—but I’d like his family to have his body to bury. Volunteers?”
Several hands go up, and I pick out four, since the trip will be safer with more guns.
“Okay,” I say after that’s decided. “Everyone else, backto your duties. We don’t know if or when they’ll come at us again.”
The crowd starts dispersing at last, which means I can let go of my pretense of perfect composure. Ben is standing nearby, waiting like me for everyone to leave.
