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SIX
SPECIAL TEAMS FLOOD THE CELLS. A GUARD jostles me out, pushing me against Cormac as a scream calls my attention back to the prisoners. Officers drag the Spinsters from their prison, herding them into a group. Hanna’s eyes meet mine before security forces surround the girls. From the mass of black uniforms a collection of arms reach out, grasping toward freedom, but I’m pulled down the corridor of the tower and away from the swarm of girls.
Hanna’s final accusatory look burns in my mind. She sees me as the problem—another girl not only controlled by the Guild but willing to do as they wish. I want to believe I’m dangerous—that my power should be feared—but who do I scare? The more I think about it, the clearer the answer becomes.
Myself.
Despite my best efforts, I’m no closer to solving this situation without violence, and as I watch the chaos, knowing that there’s not much time left for the Spinsters here, my composed veneer cracks, fear and guilt seeping through it.
Cormac is only a few feet away. Whatever he is planning, I can still stop it. If I invoke our agreement, I can remind him that a compromise will be a better course of action. It’s the best I can do, even as a tiny voice in the back of my mind reminds me this won’t be enough.
“What are you doing?” I ask. He doesn’t bother to look at me. He’s too consumed with his business.
“We have no choice but to institute Protocol Two,” he says. “Containment of the Spinsters is necessary, and this coventry and sector have been compromised.”
“Can you transfer them out to other coventries? Separate the ones who didn’t rebel?” It’s less a question than a wish.
“I’m not interested in keeping a bunch of traitors.” Cormac stops, but he searches the room around us. To him our conversation is merely another annoying side effect of the situation.
Grady stands to the side of the action. He doesn’t try to stop the guards dragging the Spinsters away; he looks frozen.
“You have to stop this,” I yell at him. “You know what he’s going to do, don’t you? Stop him!”
The troops march the girls past us and out the door of the Ministry. I have no idea where they are taking them, but it can’t be good.
“Cormac.” Grady finally speaks up. “Execute them if you must, but consider the people. They don’t deserve to be punished for the actions of a few Spinsters. Without the Spinsters—”
Bile rises in my throat. He’s willing to sacrifice those girls to save the population. Cormac rounds on him. His face is pale and there’s a slight tremor when he raises his finger to point at Grady. “And let the taint in this sector spread through the rest of Arras? If we don’t contain the rabid propaganda here and now, it will be Protocol Three next.”
“It will never come to that,” Grady says, but he slumps against a wall as if the weight of this possibility is too much to bear. “You’ve never been able to make hard decisions, Grady. I’ve made this one for you. You’re absolved for now.” Cormac waves a hand at him, shooing him in the direction of the exit. “Leave Allia before it’s too late. I’ve ordered emergency rebounds into the adjoining three sectors and the termination of every Spinster in the sector.”
Grady’s face is slack, guilt hanging from it like oil pooling in a rag. Cormac may believe it’s easy to walk away, but I feel the heaviness in the air. No one can justify what’s happening here today. No one will be pardoned.
“What will happen to them if you order this? Who will work the looms? What will happen to all those innocent people if the Coventry sits empty?” I ask Cormac as Grady ambles out of the room. Grady made it sound as if everyone would be punished for the blackout.
“There’s no if. It’s done. You don’t need to worry about it.” He’s too busy sending messages on his digifile to even look at me.
“Is that how this is going to work? I ask a question and you pat me on the head and send me back to the kitchen?” I plant my hands on my hips, hoping to appear defiant.
“I’ll probably swat you on the ass, actually,” Cormac says, grabbing my arm to pull me in closer, “especially if you take that tone with me in public.”
“If you think I’m going to be an obedient little wife—”
“That’s exactly what you’re going to be,” Cormac roars. His hand flies up in the air, but I don’t shrink away from it. Our eyes meet and there’s a fire burning behind his usually cold eyes. He doesn’t strike me though, he merely waves toward a group of guards. They part to reveal Hannox, who pauses to nod at Cormac.
“You two should get married,” I tell Cormac as Hannox heads in our direction. “You clearly have a very special relationship.”
“You and I will after two hundred years, too.”
“Oh, promise?” I ask, no longer trying to bite back the heedless spite that comes naturally to me. Even though I know it’s reckless, I can’t stop myself now. Cautious words and gentle reason have gotten me nowhere with Cormac. It’s as though he can’t even hear me.
“There’s something you should understand now, Adelice,” he whispers in my ear. The urgency of his words and the heat of his breath raise goose bumps down the back of my neck. “I am the one with power in Arras.”
“I have talents of my own,” I say.
“And they are mine now,” he replies. Hannox appears beside us and Cormac points to me. “Get her to the transport. We’re leaving for the Northern Ministry shortly.”
“I’ll have her transported back to the Western Coventry, and—” Hannox begins.
