“He’s our father!”
I stared at her, incredulous. “You would still protect him?”
Seph met my stare, defiant. “I wouldn’t approve of torturinganyone.”
I let out a sharp laugh. “That kind of thinking is exactly why men like him keep their power. Someone always decides to bemerciful. Someone always decides not to cross the line. And the monsters count on that.”
“And what the hell do you mean by that, Kieran?” she shot back.
“Drop it.”
“No, you started this. Tell me what you mean.”
I looked at her. “I mean you’re living in a fantasy world, Seph. You think if you refuse to become ugly, the ugliness will disappear.”
“Someone has to be willing to get their hands dirty. You just don’t want to see it.”
“What the hell, K?” Dev snapped. “That’s not fair! Seph fought with all of us out there!”
I stepped toward her.
“You could have obliterated those soldiers out there without a thought, Seph. And I know you don’t want to hurt people — I get it. But ask yourself… would any one of them do you the same courtesy?”
Seph straightened, lifting her chin. She didn’t retreat an inch.
“And what would you have me become?” she demanded. “A monster? The Void? Would that finally make you happy?”
“No.” The word came out sharper than I intended. I forced myself to steady it. “What would make me happy is for you to understand that the things I do — the things we do — aren’t about cruelty. They’re about survival.”
The words hung there, heavier than I’d meant them to be.
“No,” Seph said quietly. “But they are at the expense of me. At the expense of Dev. Of Ash. Of Sy.”
My jaw tightened.
“We’re in a war, Seph. If we don’t fight back with everything we have, we lose. And if we lose…” I exhaled slowly. “Then none of this matters. Not mercy. Not restraint. Not us.”
“I can’t change who I am, Kieran. Any more than you can,” she said tiredly.
“I know.” The admission cost more than I let show. “But if you won’t cross that line… then don’t condemn the ones who do.”
“Enough. Both of you.”
Elliot’s voice cracked through the room like a whip.
“This isn’t a philosophy debate,” he snapped. “We’ve just survived a coordinated strike, and we still don’t know who handed the Council our location.”
He turned sharply to Sable. Then to me.
“Sable. Kieran.” Elliot turned fully toward us. “I want the guards taken into holding. Every one of them.”
Sable’s eyes lit with something sharp and hungry.
“Interrogation?” she asked.
“Yes,” Elliot said coldly. “Individually. Thoroughly. Use Ash if you need to.”
Seph stiffened beside Ash.
