I run my fingers through my hair and yank. The sting of pain grounding me in the here and now, keeping me from floating away in a murky sea of memories.
“Just look what you’ve done.” Juno tsks. “You’ve no room to lecture me. I’m the president of the United States. I did what was best for?—”
“Valen!” A voice struggles through the black mass blocking the dungeon.
“We’re here, Druin!” Valen calls back.
“Druin?” I can’t place that name. But I have plenty of others. “Wyatt, Evie, Gretchen—are they okay? Where are they?” I get a sliver of memory—someone saying their convoy had been wiped out. I look up at Valen, my eyes watering. “You killed them?”
“I—”
“Fuck!” David stumbles through the inky blackness. “I hate this spellwork.”
“You’re supposed to.” Valen keeps his gaze on me. “The Tantuns?”
“Dealt with. No one escaped.”
“Good.” Valen strides to him, the two of them talking quietly.
I try to just breathe. But I can’t. Not when a whirlwind of memories is destroying me bit by bit. Dead. So many dead. Cities destroyed. Humans systematically annihilated.
“They’re trying to decide what to do with you,” Juno whispers.
Valen turns his head and gives her a death glare.
I lean against the cold bars. When Juno rests her hand on my shoulder, my eyes water, the bridge of my nose stinging. The tears are inevitable. Impossible to deny.
Juno is alive.
I’malive.
I sob into my shaking hands.
“Georgia, please.” Valen kneels in front of me.
“You really can’t take a hint, can you?” Juno deadpans.
“Georgia?” his voice is strained.
Something inside me is breaking, falling apart. I can’t stop it.
“Let me take you out of here. All right?” he asks. “Please, Georgia?”
Shuddering I reach behind me and grip the bars, lifting myself to my feet. Valen watches, his hands twitching, but he doesn’t touch me.
“Let her out.” My voice is hoarse, a thudding pain setting up behind my eyes. Like the headaches from before but deeper, as if it throbs from my brain stem all the way to my optic nerves.
“No.” Valen steps toward me, hands palm out. “I know you think she’s still your sister, and she is on a certain level, but she’s dangerous, Georgia. She’s a danger toyou.”
Juno scoffs. “Bullshit. I’d never hurt Georgia.”
Valen’s gaze lifts over my shoulder, hardening as he looks at Juno. “Would you like me to name off the transgressions you committed against your sister one by one or simply hit the high point of you selling her out to humanity’s greatest enemy.”
“I did what was best for?—”
“You gave her up for power,” he snarls.
“And what did you do?” she caws. “You used her! For her research, for her blood. You’re no better than me. If it weren’t for me, Georgia would never have had the opportunity of a lifetime to work on the plague!” She slams her palm on the bars. “I gave her the world, everything she ever wanted! You gave her nothing. You only take. Take and take until there’s nothing left. Now look at her. You did this. You?—”
