“He’s mad. Erratic. All I need is an opening, a moment when he’s ranting about Theo or the humans. Some way to break through his awareness and take him down. Only a fraction of a second when he isn’t prying at my mind. If I can find that, I can avoid his compulsion.”
“Has he ever given you an opening before?”
I drop the final step at the bottom, the darkness around us complete.
Juno waits at the tracks, her rage barely contained as she glares at me.
I stop and turn to Coal, his expression utterly impassive despite the worry in his voice. An excellent dissembler for a Corvidion, his poker face is what’s kept him alive so long despite Gregor’s penchant for killing anyone who might challenge him for power.
“No,” I answer his question. No, there’s never been a moment when Gregor hasn’t been on his guard against me, when his icy fingers haven’t been poised to tear apart my mind and impose their will upon it.No.
Coal faces me and holds out his hand.
I clasp his forearm.
We stand in silence for only a moment before parting.
Nothing needs to be said. Not between us.
I go to my death.
He will wait for word and make his move after. I can only hope I’ll have weakened Gregor enough to give Coal a chance at a death blow. But even if he fails, Gregorwilldie. The scourge of him will be wiped from the earth and washed out to sea, forever buried under the shifting tides.
“Where is she?” Juno holds a silver knife, though it’s a ceremonial one from one of the antiquities rooms. Barely sharp enough to cut butter.
“She’s with the humans. Safe. Away from Gregor and, as far as he knows, dead. He will die, either by my hand or another’s, or by time. Georgia will live a long, beautiful life, one you should have no part in.” I’m tired, too tired for Juno’s bullshit. The will it takes to create two of myself—one who is the brutal Specter, and one who has found his entire reason for being in the heart of a human—has worn me down even more than Gregor’s impossible demands in his war against the world.
“You think you can kill Gregor?” She lowers the knife slowly.
“No.” I shrug, re-settling the blades at my sides. “But I will try.”
“Then you’re already dead.” She smiles.
“Let Georgia forget about you. Be nothing but a memory to her. Give her peace.” I step around her and sit heavily in the train car, even the air around me weighing on my shoulders.
The cart screeches to life, moving rapidly into the close, dark tunnels.
Juno fades. Everything fades.
Only Georgia remains.
Smiling. In tears. In agony. Laughing. Terrified. Curious. Amused. Every facet of her gleaming like polished ruby, her entire being more precious to me than anything else on heaven or earth.
My love. My only.Kedves verem.
18
Come to me.
I jolt, my hands shaking so badly I drop a tray of vials on the lab floor, the glass shattering everywhere.
I grab another tray and start again. Unsteady hands and clammy skin, I struggle to simply fill my syringe and insert it into the fresh vial.
When I finally have it done, I grab it and stuff it into my pocket, then fill another. One more and I’m done.
I step over the glass, some of it crunching under my shoe, and hurry to the lab door. Pausing for only a moment, I say a silent prayer for Gretchen and Aang, hoping that they’re at peace. Then I whisper my goodbyes to Evie and Wyatt, sending them my love and my hope for a cure. I also say a silent wish to see them again, though I know that’s asking far too much.
When I enter the hallway, Gage is a few paces away holding a radio up to his ear. “We good?” he asks.
