Page 76 of Stormbreaker

Fuck me.

They’ve planned this perfectly, haven’t they? I didn’t want to kill that man last time, so they’re allowing me to save one. But by doing so, someone else still has to die.

A Keeper.

Someone just like me. Someone who was caught or turned in, maybe by someone they trusted. While I stand here, clinging to my own secrets and deciding whether they live or die.

“Won’t the Extinguishers just kill the Keeper anyway?” I ask.

“Not if you can save them,” Stevie says. “Sometimes, Keepers are offered the option of being exiled from New Manhattan and living in the Wastes, as long as they promise never to return. This Keeper has asked to leave the city.”

“Really?”

She nods. I had no idea this was an option for Keepers. Obviously, living in the Wastes would be incredibly hard, but at least you’d still be alive, though maybe not for long.

“What about the other accused of crimes?” I ask. “What happens if I save them?”

“They get to return home,” Devon says. “They’ll have fulfilled the conditions of their sentencing. It’ll be like nothing happened.”

Hardly, but I don’t say that out loud.

“What if I can’t save either of them?” My voice comes out scratchy and tight.

Stevie cocks her masked head. “Then in your case, we would have to bid you adieu from Society. This is your last and only chance.”

I nod because I suppose I expected that. They’ve already altered the rules for me, likely due to a million strings pulled by my father. So why not another? None of it helps the shivers of panic spreading over my scalp.

A prickle works its way up my back, reminding me of the oncoming storm. I scratch again as I briefly worry about exposure to Spark. But then I remember General Sol uses her channeled electricity to power a barrier that protects the trees from errant strikes. As if on cue, a large net flickers to life overhead, crisscrossing with lines of purple light.

We all look up as everything is painted with a soft amethyst glow.

I try to tamp down the restlessness in my limbs as I roll my neck and focus on the task at hand.

“You have ten minutes,” Devon says, gesturing toward two paths through the trees about a hundred feet apart. “The left leads you to the criminal and House Aria; the one on the right, toward the Keeper and House Fiama. Understand?”

Unfortunately, I do. If I save the accused, the Keeper dies, which suits Aria and their Extinguishers just fine. If I save the Keeper, the accused dies, and it’s one less person for Fiama to deal with.

“Rescue your prize and deliver them to the front gates to pledge,” Devon finishes.

My mind starts racing. Did these instructions really come from The Shield? Or did my father set this up as a true test of my loyalty? How can I possibly make this choice?

Bile rises in my throat. Ten minutes. That’s practically nothing. When I thought I’d found a loophole in refusing Fiama’s first test, I was only buying time. Of course, I knew none of this would be easy.

“What if I choose neither?” I ask, trying to find another way to save all of us from this fate. “I’ll test for Tera. Or Asale.”

Stevie’s eyebrows shoot up. She clearly wasn’t expecting me to say that.

I wasn’t, either, but that was before I was dragged into this fucking forest.

Devon shakes his head. “I’m sorry, but that is no longer open to you. These are your only two options.”

His expression is almost sympathetic. I know then that my father is responsible for all of this. He’s always thought me weak. Too emotional. Too soft. When I refused to fight that man, I revealed just how much. He wants to push me, force me to make a hard choice. He wants to make me just like him.

I shake my head as tears burn in my eyes.

Skies, I can’t do this. I can’t make this choice.

I only have one other option. One I never thought I’d have to face.