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“We had someone take care of that—”
“—They missed one,” he interrupts. “I hope, for your sake, there aren’t more…”
I look at him sharply. His tone sounds straightforward, nothing sinister or threatening. “You’re not turning me in?”
“Not yet. You have enough to deal with for hiding fugitives. They’ll come to the conclusion about the baby without me handing over proof.”
“Sean,” I say carefully. “I undid a wrong. You and I both know that baby should never have been taken from Gwen. You’re a kind, decent…”
“I know howniceI am.” His tone has bite. “I’ve said all I came to say...except for this: I can make it all go away,” he snaps his fingers, “just like that.”
He’s always had a flair for the dramaticis the thought that crosses my mind and I quickly stifle it down. He’s hurt and I did that to him.
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“Be with me. Marry me, move in with me, commit to me—I don’t care how we make it official—but come home with me, today, and I will keep you safe.”
I’m shaking my head before he gets the words all the way out. His lip quivers when he says “safe” and I put my hand on his arm.
“No,” I say softly.
“How much of yournois because of Jackal Emerson?” His face tightens as if daring me to disagree.
“None of it.”
He flattens his lips together and then scoffs. “I don’t believe you.”
“You don’t have to...but it’s the truth. I respect you too much to pretend to be in love with you,” I say.
“Not even when it means protecting yourself and those you love?”
“My whole life has been constrained and tidy. I’ve never tried to break out of the life that someone else planned for me. At times it’s been like a prison, but I thought it was what I deserved...what I was made to be. I know better now. I can’t be tamed. Iwon’tbe tamed.” I lean in and get in his face. “Even if that means I go to prison.”
He turns on his heels and walks to the door. His eyes are bleak when he looks at me.
“Please let me help you. You’ll regret this, Phoenix.”
“I don’t think so,” I say softly. “I think it’s time for you to leave.”
He walks out of the door and out of my life.
THIRTY-ONE
JACKAL
Female bottlenose dolphins sometimes use their snouts as dildos on other females.
I collapse into a chair, exhausted. Nordice won’t let up on me, and not seeing Phoenix has left a vacant gnawing in my gut that I didn’t know I was capable of feeling. I close my eyes, trying to force sleep, but a message hits my Silverbook and notifies me.
“Regionwide Alert,” it says. “Regionwide Alert.”
I know these messages, sent by the Statehead—they won’t stop repeating themselves until watched. I sit up to find the screen hovering around me, flashing the red words REGIONWIDE ALERT. PLAY NOW. I groan, tapping the message and waiting for it to play. It’s probably something about Gwen’s escape or Rebel’s disappearance, but when I open it, it’s nothing of the sort. I bolt upright, the blood rushing to my head.
Gwen sits on a stool against a white wall, her hair loose around her face. Her shoulders are squared and straight, but her eyes are sad.
“I am Gwen Allison. The Society stole my baby from me and gave him to another woman.”
The view changes, and now Tahira is sitting on the stool, her hands pressed together between her knees. The camera has stripped her of the brash cockiness, and she looks younger.
