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His outstretched arm still held the gun and his face looked smug, complacent even.
I got closer, pretending to head for the carriage doors, but then, when Cael glanced back at Graham for a mere second, I pounced, knocking the gun from his hand.
We both scrambled to grab it off the ground, but I picked it up first.
I gripped the gun and aimed for Cael’s head, both hands holding it steadily. For the first time in my life, I was truly willing to pull the trigger.
I looked down the barrel of the gun at him. “Whatever you’re using to control that boat—give it to us now.”
Cael stared at me, unmoving.
I tightened my grasp on the gun, breathing out smoothly as I prepared to shoot.
He must’ve seen that I meant it. He yanked the black device from his pocket and tossed it to the ground in a rush.
Cait dove in and picked it up.
“Take it,” I said to her, ordering Cait as if I were her queen, “and take the boat.” The resolve in my voice gave them little to argue with.
She hesitated. “What about you?”
I ignored the question. “Find somewhere you can be free.” I knew she still had a radio. When we needed to find each other again, we would.
Cait, Lachlan, and Keane turned and ran down to the shore with the device Cael had given up, claiming the white boat astheir key to freedom. Now that Cael couldn’t control it, they could finally leave.
But I wouldn’t be leaving. I kept the gun pointed at Cael’s head.
Graham watched, but this time, I didn’t find the usual disapproval in his eyes. He wasn’t shaking his head or telling me to stop.
“A dozen Enforcers are on their way,” Cael said. “If they find us like this, you’ll be shot on sight.”
I glanced back. Cait, Lachlan, and Keane had made it to the boat and were heading out the sea.
“Your father is locked up underground,” Cael said softly. “Kill me and he’ll die slowly and painfully, wondering why no one ever came back for him.”
I wondered if he was bluffing, so I kept the gun up, but my resolve began to weaken. Even if my father could get out, I didn’t want to kill Cael and lose my path to the arsenal,especiallynow that I’d seen the white boat.
The rhythm of horses galloping over the nearby dirt road told me Cael might’ve been telling the truth after all.
But whether or not he was, I realized I didn’t want to end him like this. I wanted him taken down, but not by a gun. Not as a martyr. I wanted him exposed, disgraced, and revealed as the devil he was.
So I tossed the gun far behind me.
It splashed into the waves.
Cael closed in on me at once, knocking me to the ground. He slapped a pair of cuffs on me and tossed me into the carriage.
He leaned in toward Graham, ripping the gag from his mouth and releasing his cuffs, speaking urgently. “I will pretend none of this happened if you do the same. Don’t breathe a word about today’s events to a soul or Mara’s dead.” Cael glanced over his shoulder. “Now, stand up and straighten your suit.”
Graham glowered, but he stood.
Cael turned to the Enforcers approaching by horseback.
Graham leaned in close to me. “Whatever happens, please know I’m on your side.”
I understood. I grabbed his hand. “And I’m with you.”
He squeezed my hand, then let go, adjusting his suit and hair. He slammed the carriage doors, dropping the lock into place with a hollow thud.
