Her eyes blink in surprise. Before she can let the questions fill her mind, she shakes her head. “I will not let her turn you into a killer.”
“I already killed people.”
“I remember. Neutralizing legitimate threats, killing enemies, that is not what makes a killer. It is this—it is the choosing of violence, which makes a killer.” She steps forward and pins me with a fervent gaze. “You are brave and compassionate and kind, and you are essential. I refuse to let her rob you of the very qualities that make you extraordinary. So, Theia can have this power she wants so badly. She can have the whole country for all I care. But shecannothave you.”
We square off, her eyes begging me to accept this ridiculous notion of my indispensability while simultaneously shoving me out of the country. She wants me to understand, to make this easier, but I can’t.
“I get that this martyr-hero business is, like, baked into who you are. And normally, I find it courageous and attractive for some stupid reason, but I can’t accept this. I—I need you. I…please don’t make me go. I don’t want to go.”
Entwining our fingers, she squeezes my hand. “Lucy, you have proven to be not only worthy of the effort it took me to keep you safe, but deserving of so much more than I could ever hope to give you.” Her body shakes as she expels a shuddering breath, dropping her voice. “I don’t deserve to keep you, but letting you go is the worst hurt I have ever felt.”
“So don’t.” I blink back tears and firm my resolve. “Don’t let me go. Come with us. Can’t you stay with me?”
“Oh, Lucy.” She smiles sadly. “You know I can’t. But you’ll never know what it means to me to hear you ask.”
The plane’s stairs open with a loud thunk and I panic, reel Taylor in, and press us heart to heart. I don’t want this to be the last time I speak to her, or touch her, or look in her eyes. This is no ordinary goodbye. This is my heart splintering like stiff wood, prickly pieces never to be whole again.
Her heart thumps against the bottom of my ribs. My hug is returned full force, her hands clutching the back of my jacket like I am keeping her tethered to the ground. The disruptive sound of my one stifled sob is enough to make her pull back, but not out of my arms. I study her face, trying in desperation to imprint it in my mind. The swell of the tips of her cheeks, the sharp lines leading to her mouth, the faintest scar along her jaw, the glowing intensity of her beautiful eyes, the matching hue of her unruly hair, the lack of crinkles around her eyes not only because of youth, but lack of reasons to smile.
My hand slides to cup her cheek and chin, tilting it up toward me. I feel her gulp, watch her lips tremble, and see desire rush to her eyes without repression. How can the same moment be so desperately sad and nakedly wanton?
Our lips brush in a featherlight prelude to a kiss, and a gunshot tears us apart. Both our heads whip to the source of the noise, and my father hits the ground like a cardboard cutout tipped over. Theia steps down the plane stairs, pistol smoking.
“No!” I scream, and Taylor blocks my path and holds me around the middle as I struggle to rush to him. “Papa! No!”
Taylor removes her gun from her pants and levels it at Theia. The new leader crouches next to Papa’s body and presses her fingers to his neck. Satisfied, she stands and holsters her gun. “Put your weapon down, soldier.”
“No.”
A black helicopter, Order symbol splashed across the side in bright orange, descends near where we’re standing and whips rain into our faces. Vehicles careen toward us and box us in. Theia takes point among them. “Enough nonsense. You are coming home.”
Hunter hops out of the helicopter, casually slinging a rifle over her shoulder. She approaches from behind Theia and gives us a nod as other Order members surround us. Taylor cocks her pistol. “Lucy goes free.”
An Order member whacks me in the back of my legs with a gun, forcing me to my knees. Taylor sweeps her pistol across to shoot him, but Hunter readies her rifle and takes a step forward. “Don’t be stupid, kid. Well, don’t be anymorestupid.”
Theia is not impressed. “I will make this an easy choice for you. Drop your weapon, or she dies.”
A cold metal cylinder digs into the nape of my neck. Taylor lunges toward me only to be held back by another man’s gun at her chest. With the ease of which I’ve become accustomedto seeing Taylor perpetrate violence, she takes his gun, whacks him in the face, spins the gun around, and disarms him. With another jerk, she slams him in the temple and he crumples to the floor. Holstering her pistol, she pulls the rifle up on her shoulder and aims the barrel at the man behind me.
“Put your gun down or I will kill her,” Theia orders in a strict voice, having spent the last coin of her patience. Taylor hesitates, desperation in her eyes. Even if she could take out the soldiers, she’d never be able to kill Hunter or Theia before one of them kills me. Theia pulls down the hammer on her gun. “Do not test me, child.”
Taylor dejectedly places the rifle on the ground and immediately another soldier scoops it up. “Don’t. I’ll come.” A soldier knocks her to the ground and roughly jerks her up onto her knees. She doesn’t look at me as she’s manhandled by her former colleague, relieved of any remaining weapons and restrained at the wrists with zip ties. “Let her go. Please.”
Theia appears to weigh the options presented to her, arms akimbo like a living balancing scale. She narrows her eyes at me and her thin lips spread into a smile. “I suppose she has gone through a lot of trouble to keep you alive. And what threat do you pose now, stripped of your protector? A princess with no kingdom. Though, it is a shame we must part on these terms. I believe you could’ve been a wonderful addition to the Order under different circumstances, Luciana.”
“You don’t need to lie to me anymore. This is evidence enough you don’t give a shit about me. Or Taylor, for that matter,” I say. “And, for the last time, it’s Lucy.”
Theia tilts her head to the side. “I would have permitted you to remain in the Order, but when I realized my highest-ranking soldier committed treason for your benefit, I wasn’t feeling as kind.”
“It’s not treason to try and save lives,” Taylor says.
“No, but it is treason to disobey a direct order from your superior.” Theia puts the full force of her anger behind her glare. “It is treason to try and organize an escape for a region leader and his daughter.”
“Sure, but Wolfshield gets a pass because she had the forethought to snatch your spawn,” I retort. “So, it’s not treason when you do it.”
Theia chuckles. “I am the new leader of this country, Miss Piccolo. Everything I do sets a precedent for what we will be. Showing mercy to one of the more benevolent leaders is a tactical move, not an emotional one. Personally, I would like nothing more than to shove Wolfshield’s corpse in the same unmarked grave your father will rot in.” I clench my fists and another soldier uses this opportunity to zip-tie my wrists together. Theia advances on us. “It is the same pragmatism I thought I raised Taylor with. Clearly, I failed.”
Taylor is so ashamed of herself it breaks my heart to look at her. “I’m sorry to disappoint you.”
