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“Then what do you suggest we do?” I ask.
“Luna being locked up goes a long way, but Iron continues to blame us for the Blackout and has been using Ness to lie on a grander scale for weeks. We need to turn our focus to finding out what happened to Sunstar and hope to save her so she can rebuild this country for our families.”
Wesley, Ruth, and Eva seem to be in agreement. Saving Sunstar is important. But Iris doesn’t have the full story on my family.
“Justice hasn’t been served. When I retrocycled, I discovered that Luna is my grandmother. Though, hey, maybe you’ve been sitting on that secret too,” I say.
Iris’s face is frozen in surprise, her eyes glazed and lips parted. She might be a liar, but she’s not an actress.
“That criminal turned us into orphans, Iris. Tala lost her parents too. We need to make sure that Luna being locked up isn’t another trick from Iron to make himself look good.”
“And if it isn’t?” Iris asks.
“Then we end Luna once and for all.”
Iris puts her hands in the pockets of her father’s corduroy jacket, which has always been so big on her. “I’m sorry,” she says sheepishly. “I won’t pretend to understand the nightmare of being related to that monster who has ruined our lives. We’re here to help you through that because even though you piss me off like no one else, you’re still family to me, to all of us. Take the higher road, Maribelle. Killing Luna won’t bring you peace.”
I not only witnessed Luna murder my birth mother, but I felt that blade across Sera’s neck. The Blackout took Mama and Papa away from me. Then, when Atlas brought me some light, he was killed too. It’s as if my heart has turned to stone, and the only way to break through is by making sure the source of my greatest pains has met her end.
I turn away from Iris. “We should get moving. Who’s in?”
“Team Infinity,” Brighton says, standing between Emil and Prudencia.
Tala already has her crossbow ready from standing guard outside. We might have to fight over who gets to kill Luna.
“I’ll be enjoying a book and a bubble bath if we don’t get arrested,” Wyatt says.
“I can’t leave Esther,” Ruth says with her hand to her heart. She’s always been a sweetheart who feels guilty when she shouldn’t. “I’m sorry. Carolina, you’re welcome to spend the evening with us. I’ll do better to protect you if there’s more trouble.”
Carolina offers a warm, tired smile. “Thank you.”
“I’ll be here too,” Wesley says. “Maribelle, I hate to play this card, but . . . Atlas’s parents are still jailed for going above the law with their powers. He wouldn’t want you locked up too.”
I’m not going to have Atlas’s memory used against me, and I won’t get caught.
“I won’t be useful to you,” Eva says. “I’m going to stay.”
Iris grabs her hand. “Me too. I didn’t lose you to run away again so soon.” She addresses Emil and Brighton. “I can’t stop any of you, but I will also guard your mother with my life if enforcers find us.”
“Thank you,” Emil says.
“Let’s go,” Brighton says.
Tala leads us to a closet with training gear, not allowing anyone to wear official Halo Knight armor. I still have my power-proof vest, but Emil, Brighton, and Prudencia put on gray ones. Wyatt is nervous when Tala fills a bag with gem-grenades because bringing weapons into a prison with powerful criminals is a bad idea, but so is breaking into one. Emil and Brighton take a few moments with Carolina, promising they’ll look after each other.
Everyone sees us off, which is an infuriating gesture from those with powers refusing to help. Roxana carries me and Tala over the mountains as Wyatt and Emil are close behind on Nox. Prudencia and Brighton tail us with the car.
I feel powerful under these stars, but they won’t give me strength where we’re going. The underground cells in the Bounds will weaken me, but I only need to be strong enough to throw fire-arrows into Luna—one for every person she took from me.
Sixty-Three
Cell
NESS
I’m blindfolded as guards carry me through the island and into the Bounds. I only hear the screech of the cerulean phoenix that circles the towers, the harsh winds, and Bishop instructing the guards to process Luna for solitary confinement and me for a cell with minimal supervision. Between this and the fact that they haven’t cuffed me in any neutralizing gauntlets, I guess I’m not the threat they’ve made me out to be.
I’ll die here knowing the truth—and knowing that they know it too.
