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I burst to my feet. “By sacrificing achild?”
He rises, too, his face ashy but set with resignation. “I’ll admit, it doesn’t sit well with me how young this one is, but the time has come.”
A knot tightens in my stomach, and my voice shakes with anger. “I won’t be a part of this.”
“This is your last chance,” Lynch warns. “Don’t disappoint me, Sharpe.”
Anger boils in my blood. “I’m happy to disappoint you, if this is what it means to earn your respect.”
With a heavy sigh, he turns toward the closed door and raises his voice. “Captain Bailey, you may come in.”
My office door opens to reveal my old captain with a smug smile on his face and a pair of handcuffs in his hand.
He steps forward. “Gavin Sharpe, you have the right to remain silent…”
Disbelief fills me as he yanks my hands behind my back, agony shooting from my injured shoulder.
The cold metal cuffs biting into my wrists bring home the reality of the situation. I’m being placed under arrest, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.
As Bailey continues to read me my rights, Mayor Berdherst steps up beside me, his voice low and chilling. “I want you to know that your honor here is wasted. We’ve already located the child, and my people have been sent to bring her in. This was your chance to be a team player, to prove you could be a benefit to the city.”
I meet his gaze with a mixture of anger and despair. “I won’t be a part of sacrificing a child, no matter the cost.”
Bailey’s hold tightens on my arms, sending another bolt of pain through me, and he marches me out of my office.
At our appearance, shocked silence falls over the squad room, and my officers stand, some reaching for their holsters.
I shake my head, silently telling them not to interfere.
Even if I’m in jail, the city still needs them to stand and fight against the coming storm, because I know my people, and no matter what Berdherst thinks, he’s not getting his hands on that child.
As Bailey walks me through the silent room to the elevators, I realize he plans to lock me up in my own damn prison.
With a smirk at me, he takes the badge from my belt to access the elevator for the Ward and marches me inside.
safe house
- Darius -
I pickat my Chinese food, regretting having left Marceau’s body for this subpar experience.
But then Merri’s foot bumps against mine under the table, and I remember why I enjoy having a corporeal form once more.
I glance up to find her amused, golden gaze fixed on me. “You don’t have to eat the lo mein if you find it that detestable.”
“No, it’s fine.” I eat a bite of overcooked noodles dripping in grease and grimace. “Delicious.”
Marceau barks out a laugh. “Come on. Just make yourself something else to eat.”
I peer toward the kitchen in dismay at the suggestion.
Is a toasted English muffin any better? I dare not attempt making eggs or bacon. Flint had done both this morning, and I wasn’t paying attention.
Gods, I really am useless with this kind of stuff.
In the Black Mountains of my birth, I simply entered the lava pools when I desired to refuel. Once I took on a corporeal body and left for the citadel, food was provided for the guards by the palace chefs.
Even on my hunts outside of the citadel, my food came as rations. There’s little to consume in the Wasteland, with no vegetation and only the akuzal to hunt. And no oneeatsakuzal. They’re all hard shells and organs.
