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“You’re already feeling better,” she grumbled, but there was no heat in her tone. If anything, it was relief. Ez slipped off me and pressed a kiss to my forehead before going to sit with Tris.
Zali curled up on my lap, needing me as much as I needed her in that moment. I wrapped her in my one good arm, and we sat quietly, my eyes closed as I breathed her in.
After a time, she sighed. “I’m just like her.” Her voice was quiet, filled with vulnerability. I opened my mouth to disagree, but she kept speaking, adding, “I hate her, but I’m just like her.”
“You’re nothing like her,” I challenged.
“She stole all that money. How the hell do you think I made all of mine? I took it. She’s disregarded every law, every moral code there is. How is that different to me?”
Tris was on his knees before us in a heartbeat. “You’re nothing like her. I promise you.”
“How, Tris?” Her plea was impassioned, the fear in her voice very real.
“The Zali I know may very well be the world’s best hacker. She says, ‘Fuck what society thinks’ a lot, but you know right and wrong.” With one hand on my leg and the other on Zali’s, he held her gaze, a promise in his eyes. “You don’t hack people to cause them damage or to hurt them unless they truly deserve it. Every person you’ve taken from has done horrible things.”
“So shouldn’t I have turned them in?”
Ezra laughed, but the sound wasn’t happy. He took Zali’s place on the armrest of the recliner we were sitting on. “The legal system is fucked up, Zali. Sometimes I think we need karmic justice more than court systems and jails. Today was the perfect example.”
“How much money have you paid out to your mum’s investors?” Tris asked. I could tell her the exact amount Mum had received in her bank account—the amount she invested plus the returns Rosa had promised Mum and Dad for the full ten years. Instead, I tightened my arm around her and kissed her hair.
“A couple of hundred million,” she mumbled.
“Right, so you’ve seen a wrong, and you’ve fixed it,” he confirmed. “You do that with everything, Zali. Flynn told me what you did for him, sticking with him through all the bullying, then buying him an apartment and a car just to get him out of his parents’ place. You protected him. You did the same for Ry too, giving him what he needed to survive losing Asher. Even your old teacher told me what you did for his friends, no questions asked. He asked for help, and you were there. The one who runs Spectrum—”
“That was for the LGBTIQA youth service he volunteers at,” she explained.
“How terrible of you to help them,” Ez teased, his voice full of sarcasm. He smoothed his hand down her hair, caressing her cheek as he did, his touch gentle.
“And the other one who got screwed over by his football team?” Tris challenged, raising his brow.
Ez continued, “You made things right for them. It’s what you do, Zali. It’s what you’ve done tonight too.”
“I killed her. I’m a murderer. How can you love me?”
“We will never stop loving you,” I promised, my voice fierce. “If I’d done it, would you hate me?” I didn’t wait for her to answer before I shook my head. I knew her answer. “You gave my best friend justice. You made sure his murderer couldn’t hurt anyone else. You fulfilled our promise, and for that, I’ll always love you.”
Tears spilled over her lashes, running down her cheeks. She nodded and pressed her lips together. “I just wish we’d been there when he really needed us.”
“You were only a kid,” Tristan countered. “It wasn’t your job to protect him even though he did that for you.”
Ez brushed the tears from her cheek with his thumb. “None of you knew what she was capable of. I know without a shadow of a doubt that if your dad had any inkling, the outcome would have been different.”
“I’m going to jail, aren’t I?” she asked.
Instinctively I tightened my arm around her, trying to protect her. “No,” I gritted out, daring Ezra to even try to arrest her. There was no way I’d let her take the fall for defending us against that monster and getting justice for Ash.
He shook his head with a soft smile. “I’m way out of my jurisdiction. But that wouldn’t matter anyway. I’d never let you be charged,” Ez murmured, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “It’ll never be a problem again either. I’m handing in my badge when we get back—”
“Ez,” Tristan started, but he held up his hand to halt Tristan’s words.
“I’m done, Tris. It’s the right time. But this isn’t about me.”
Tris reached for Ezra’s hand, squeezing it after he threaded their fingers together. He turned his gaze to Zali and nodded. “Ry’s right, you know. You’re nothing like her. She murdered a defenceless child—her own son—after she’d already hurt him. And for what? Her lifestyle? For a bit of peace and quiet?” He closed his eyes and shook his head, sorrow radiating from him in the downward tilt of his lips and the frown between his brows. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” He sucked in a shuddery breath and exhaled slowly before blinking his eyes open again. They were glassy, like he was on the edge of tears himself. “Zali, she would have killed you too if she had the chance. She very nearly killed Ry. You could never be like her.”
“It was self-defence, and I never want you to think otherwise,” Ezra supplied simply.
*****
