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“That fits. He was a Brother too.”
My eyes flared wide at that. “Fuck off.”
Her smirk was smug. “See? You don’t know everything, O’Donnelly. The Old World Sparrows took him out. Bastards.”
I turned in my seat to better look at her. “You’re being serious.”
It wasn’t a question.
“Of course I am. I told you we were older than the Freemasons.”
“So, what, you’re benevolent overlords?”
She scowled at me. “You put a negative spin on everything, don’t you?”
“I’m sorry if I don’t like the fact that Boatman Jim was a part of some secret society!”
“O’Donnelly, secret doesn’t mean corrupt.”
“You’re living proof ofthat, I suppose.”
“There are ten different ways to kill you in this cabin and each one involves me not breaking into a sweat—”
“That doesn’t confirm what I just said, does it?” Before we could start bickering, I demanded, “When did your indoctrination start?”
Her nostrils flared. “I wasn’t indoctrinated. In Afghanistan, I reported my CO for misconduct unbecoming, but I was the one who was punished. I was approached then. For mycandorand honesty.
“Whatever you choose to think about me, I believe in my country, in its freedoms, and its inherent desire to provide its people with a safe haven.”
I’d bet my rig that Star didn’t feel free and in a haven at this goddamn moment.
She didn’t see my glower, too busy preaching, “I pledged my life to protect the United States, not knowing that its enemies weren’t just overseas but in our government and its Armed Forces.
“The United Brotherhood fights to correct that imbalance.”
I stared at her like the lunatic I believed her to be, but something in her words hit me on the raw.
The New World Sparrowshadinfiltrated every aspect of government in our nation.
Our enemies weren’t just overseas but inside the corridors of power that few traversed.
Their names were hidden and protected, their identities in the shadows.
Weren’t my brothers and I working to uncover the identities of Sparrows in office?
Hadn’t we already erased a couple of senators and a congressman?
Didn’t a Sparrow almost sit in the vice president’s chair?
And, worse than all that, hadn’t a Sparrow been seated in the Supreme Court? Not just any judge but the chief justice, and not just any Sparrow, but theheadof them all.
Unable to school my expression, I turned away from her.
She might have believed she served a higher power, but that didn’t mean I did. Especially now that Da was dead.
Yet there was no denying the singular truth that our nationwasimbalanced.
I never claimed to wear a white hat, but at that moment, I’d never wanted to right those wrongs more than I did now.
