Page 107 of Forbidden Fate

No, she’s not going anywhere. Not yet. But we do need to move quickly.

“I need to know what you’ve done, Cruz.”

I look at her.

“I need to know if the scales really balance out from your one good deed.”

I scratch at the back of my head. An accounting? That’s what she wants? To determine if my good deeds outweigh my bad?

How many sins equal one rescue? How much blood can be washed away by one act of defiance?

I used to think I knew the answer.

I don’t anymore.

“The scales don’t balance,” I say.

“At least you’re honest,” she says. “But I’ll judge whether they do.”

“They never do,” I say. “Not in the way you want them to.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“No.” I exhale slowly. “It’s a warning.”

She shakes her head. “I don’t need a warning. I need the truth.”

The truth.

Fine. I can give her pieces of it. Enough to condemn me. Maybe enough to make her stop looking at me like there’s anything in me worth saving.

I continue massaging my aching jaw. “I was in Texas for several weeks before you and I came back to Colombia.”

She scoffs. “You make it sound like we’re on a vacation. You and I didn’t come anywhere. You brought me here.”

She’s right, of course. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. Just tell me, and don’t sugarcoat a goddamned thing.”

“Fine.” I exhale. “I was in Texas for several weeks before I took you. Does that work?”

“Yes. What were you doing there?”

“Working for Vega.”

“I assumed that.”

“There were duties. Various things.”

“That’s vague.”

“I know.”

“Don’t do that.”

I glance away but then force myself to look back at her. I have to own what I’ve done. I owe her that much. “One of those duties was you. The last one. Abducting you.”

Robin stares at me. “You…” Her voice catches. She swallows. “Wait. You brought me here? As in, only you?”