by Travis Brett
She grinned. “Did you miss me?”
Roman couldn’t help himself: he rushed forward and embraced her.
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
He didn’t want to let her go. Not now. Not ever again. But he pushed away his storm of emotions and forced himself to step back. They weren’t safe yet. “How?” he asked.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
He looked her up and down. She was favouring her left leg and kept her bandaged hand tucked against her chest. She looked exhausted, and something more . . . something he couldn’t define.
She looked past him. “Who is that?”
“Candle.”
“You got him? You actually did it?”
Roman hung his head. What could he say? Even though he had captured Candle, it felt like he had failed. What was the point in capturing Candle if Ruby was safe anyway? It had all been pointless.
Ruby’s expression dropped. “Roman,” she began slowly, “what’s wrong? Where is—”
“Tan’s dead.”
Ruby gasped. “How?”
“Juliette killed him.”
“Why?”
Roman looked away. “I’ll explain later. For now, we need to . . .” he trailed off. What were they supposed to do now? All he had been thinking about was getting Ruby back, but now she was safe, he had no idea what to do. Caleb’s back there. I have to help him.
“You need to get out of here,” he ordered. “I’m going back for Caleb. He’s—” He’s trying to save Sparks. Who turned rogue. How am I meant to explain that to Ruby?
She shook her head. “I’m not leaving you here.”
“We came here because we were trying to save you. I’m not letting you die here.”
“And I’m not leaving without you.”
Roman didn’t want to abandon Caleb, but he absolutely had to get Ruby away from here. Ruby’s jaw locked in determination; Roman knew that no matter what he said, she wouldn’t leave without him. That didn’t leave him with a choice.
“Then we’re both leaving. Now.” Roman picked up Candle again. The bastard was heavy. “Let’s go.”
“But Caleb—”
“I’m not arguing about this.” Roman took off, running as fast as he could manage.
Ruby followed. “Where’s Sparks?”
“Not now.”
She let the matter go, and they fell into silence as they ran, side by side, out of the station.
34
The gates to the station were left unguarded. A wave of relief washed over Ruby as they made it out to the street. She had done it; she had gotten Roman out. She immediately felt guilty for that relief, knowing that Tan wasn’t so lucky.
Roman stumbled under the weight of Candle. Ruby shouldered her bow and supported him with an arm around his waist. She was still shocked to see how hurt he looked. His face was covered in blood and bruises, his neck a dark shade of blue that was painful just to look at, and his eyes, they looked haunted. That was what scared Ruby the most.
Roman pointed towards a building, just ahead. “We’ll hide there and wait for the militia to leave.”
Ruby bit back the dozens of questions she was desperate to ask. Safety was their priority. Once inside, she helped carry Candle up the stairs, eventually stopping at the sixth story. Choosing a room with windows facing the station, they dumped Candle in the corner. Ruby moved to the window. Below, the station had gone quiet.
Ruby glanced at Candle, pulling an arrow out of her quiver and spinning it around in her hand. He looked pretty much like she had imagined him, apart from the oddly straight scar that ran down the middle of his chest. Why hadn’t Roman killed him already?
Roman stood by the window next to her, silent, his expression unreadable. Ruby tried to catch his eye, but his gaze stayed firmly fixed on the station. There was little doubt he was cursing himself over and over in his head.
Ruby spoke first. “Just what the hell is going on? Why are we hiding from the militia? Why did Juliette kill Tan?”
“We had Candle, and we couldn’t give him to her. We thought we needed him to—”
“To save me,” she finished for him.
“Yeah.”
“Fucking hell, Roman. I looked after myself, didn’t I? You shouldn’t have tried to—”
“What was I supposed to do? Sit on my arse and do nothing, while Gavin had you? No way.”
“Gavin’s dead. I killed him.”
“How the hell did you do that?”
Ruby looked away. “I told you, I don’t want to talk about it.”
She wanted to tell him. But if she told him about how bad it had been, she knew he would never stop blaming himself for letting her get captured. But it had been her fault. She alone deserved the blame. Secondly, she would have to admit how scared she had been, and she couldn’t do that, not to Roman. Juliette’s words echoed in her head: you can’t show weakness. If you show it, you can never stop yourself feeling it.
So she kept her mouth shut and let the silence drag on.
Movement at the station caught her eye. The militia exited from the front gates, some limping, others carrying their wounded, the rest staggering wearily. There couldn’t have been more than four dozen left. As they passed below, Ruby saw that they weren’t carrying wounded — they were carrying unconscious Adrenalites. She frowned, confused. Why aren’t they taking them to the wind farms?
Finally, the militia moved down the street and out of sight. Ruby sighed, stretching her aching shoulders. She and Roman were safe. For now. No doubt Juliette was already planning to search the entire city for them.
Out of the corner of her eye, Ruby saw someone else leaving the power station. Caleb. Almost laughing with relief, Ruby cupped a hand around her mouth and called out, waving. Caleb didn’t look up. She kicked the wall to break off a chunk of brick, then tossed it down to the street below. That got Caleb’s attention.
Two minutes later, Caleb stepped into the room, shoulders hunched. Somehow, he managed to look small. “You’re here . . .” he said to Ruby. “How?”
Ruby grinned. “I found a way. Did you ever doubt me?”
“Well, I won’t again.”
“What happened to Sparks?” Roman asked Caleb.
“Juliette took him.”
Ruby was confused. “Why would she take Sparks?”
“Sparks . . . went rogue,” Roman said quietly.
“What?” Ruby looked between Roman and Caleb. Neither met her gaze. “Why?”
Then Roman told her everything that had happened, staring at his feet the whole time. Ruby listened in silence, not trusting herself to speak as her disbelief turned to frustration, then finally grew into anger. Now she understood why Roman didn’t want to tell her where Sparks was. When he finished speaking, she stepped forward and punched him in the face. On the most bruised side. Hard.
“I fucking warned you, didn’t I? Of course he went rogue, after the way you treated him.”
Roman barely reacted to the blow. After a moment of stillness, his shoulders sagged and he closed his eyes, letting out a slow sigh. “I deserved that.”
“Damn right you did. Ever since you bought Sparks, you were nothing but an asshole to him.”
Roman recoiled as if she had punched him again.
“You’re not the hero you think you are,” Ruby continued. “You’re not some crusader for justice, defending Legacy from the rogues. None of us are heroes. We’re bounty hunters. We trade lives for money.”
“It wasn’t about the money,” Roman said quietly.
“Of course it wasn’t. It was about you needing someone to kill, someone to get revenge on. Did it work? Do you feel better now that you drove Sparks away?”
Roman finally met her gaze. “Tan’s dead, Ruby. How the fuck do you think I feel?”
Ruby’s anger died in her chest. He was right. Tan was dead, and here she was shouting at Roman. She couldn’t blame him for what he had done, not really. Ruby knew she how she had once
hated the Adrenalites just as much as him. How could she not, after what had happened. She moved to grab his hand, to apologize, but he turned away and walked out of the room.
Ruby moved to follow, but Caleb stepped into her way. “He needs a moment,” he said quietly. “Best to give it to him, I reckon.”
“But—”
“It wasn’t a suggestion.”
Ruby slowly nodded, and Caleb let her go. She sat down against the wall, completely exhausted but too frustrated to let herself rest. Frustrated at Roman, and at herself. “Well, we did it,” she said bitterly. “We caught Candle. The job is complete. Congratulations to us, the greatest fucking bounty hunters this city has ever seen.”
Caleb pulled a cigarette and a match from his pocket, shaking his head. “This isn’t over.”
“You’re damn right it isn’t.”
“You got a plan?”
Ruby opened her mouth but closed it when she realized she didn’t have any clue what to do now. “I’m not the one with the bat-shit insane plans.”
“Aye.” Caleb lit the match against the heel of his boot and raised it to his cigarette. “That’s Roman’s job. We’re just the naive idiots who follow him.”
“Do you regret it? Following him, I mean.”
“Nah. Roman was right about one thing: this was never about the money.” Caleb took his first puff. He sighed deeply. “I spent most of life chasing money, that’s what I regret. Roman might be an asshole some of the time — most of the time, actually — but he’s got something the rest of this city doesn’t have much of. Something I’m jealous of, if I’m honest.”
“And what’s that?”
“Passion.”
Ruby nodded. “He’s certainly got that. Although, for better or worse?”
Caleb paused to consider, then shrugged. “I still haven’t worked that out.”
* * *
Sparks woke up, hands and feet bound, mouth gagged, slung over the shoulder of a bulky militia who reeked of blood and sweat — or maybe that was Sparks.
Panic choked him. He immediately thrashed and squirmed, trying to spit out his gag. The militia tightened his grip around Sparks’ waist. Sparks noticed the militia behind him, holding a baton. A moment later that baton cracked across Sparks jaw.
He stopped struggling, head throbbing. It felt like his second heart was stuck inside his skull. He noticed the blood dripping down from his side, and his leg, and his shoulder. A moment later, the pain properly kicked in. He bit at the cloth in his mouth, stifling a dozen curses. Was there any part of him left that didn't feel like it had been ripped open and had razorblades shoved inside?
I attacked Juliette, in the middle of all her men, Sparks remembered with a groan. Why the hell did I do that? Am I insane? Obviously, he must have been. He didn't owe Caleb anything. Not really. Why had he felt it so important to protect him? Totally. Fucking. Insane.
He had even failed to kill Juliette. He swivelled his head as far as he could, searching for her. No sign. Well, he wasn't dead, yet — that meant he technically hadn't lost yet either. Once he escaped, he was going to track her down and rip her head off that scrawny neck.
Once I escape . . . yeah, ‘cause it's totally going to be that easy.
But Candle had escaped the wind farms. That meant Sparks could too. They would take him to the wind farms, and once his hands weren't bound he was going to kill everyone who tried to stop him leaving. They would learn how dangerous the best pit fighter could be.
But then he noticed something was wrong. They weren't taking him towards the wind farms.
They were marching back into the city. Straight towards Reformation Square.
35
Roman sat on the edge of the roof, his legs hanging in empty space. Below, the cracks in the road made it look like a giant cobweb was stretched out over the city. Roman imagined himself a fly caught in that web. Trapped. Waiting for the city to eat him.
He looked at his hands and saw they were shaking. He steadied his breath and loosened his shoulders, trying to relax. It didn’t help. In his mind, he saw Juliette raising the bow and shooting Tan, over and over. How could he let this happen? He should never have gotten involved in any of this. It wasn’t worth Tan’s life.
At least Ruby was safe. Roman managed a half-hearted smile of relief. An hour ago, saving Ruby was all that mattered. But now she was back and somehow he could barely bring himself to feel happy about it. Instead, he felt guilty.
If I thought I had to sacrifice Tan to save Ruby. Would I have done it? He knew the answer. He would have. He would have killed half this cursed city if it meant saving Ruby, even sacrificing his friend on the way. Not that I could protect her. She saved herself, then saved me, again. I’m useless. No wonder she’s mad at me.
He thought about heading back inside to apologize to her, for everything. That would have been the right thing to do. But he couldn’t bring himself to face her. Whatever had happened to her at the Haven, it had hurt her, and it was Roman’s fault.
He dropped his face into his hands, digging his nails into his forehead. He was sick of surviving while everyone else died. First Stevens. Then Harry. Now Tan. They were gone, and for what? Stevens’ death was meaningless, killed by an Adrenalite for no reason. Then Harry and Tan died because they followed Roman in his quest for justice, or maybe it was for revenge — Roman wasn’t sure anymore.
He had always told himself he was doing what was right for Legacy, that he was protecting people from the rogues. But that wasn’t true, was it? Truth be told, he didn’t give a damn about the people of Legacy. He despised them. This really was about revenge against the Adrenalites, the monsters.
But was Sparks a monster? He had saved Roman’s life today, just as he had saved Roman when they caught Burrstone. Even after Roman had, he admitted to himself shamefully, treated the boy like shit.
The boy was a better person then Roman was. And now Juliette had him. The boy deserved better. I owe him my life. Can I really let this happen to him?
He heard the door to the roof open behind him. He didn’t turn around as footsteps approached. Soft, careful footsteps.
“I’m sorry, Ruby,” Roman muttered, still not turning. “I didn’t mean for . . . any of this.”
She sat down beside him. “I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have yelled at you. Not after what happened.”
“Yes, you should have. I deserved it. I don’t know why I expected anything different.”
“Because you’re a stubborn fool.”
“Yeah. I am.”
“If it makes you feel any better, I think Tan would have wanted it this way.”
Roman turned to her, puzzled. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that . . .” she paused, choosing her words carefully, “I think he was always afraid you would be killed first, and he’d have to live without you. He would have wanted to be the first to die.”
“Then he was an idiot.”
“Of course he was. We all knew that,” Ruby said. “But he always believed that you saved his life when you hired him.”
“You remember what he was like back then. Wasn’t much of a life to save.”
Ruby nodded. “You gave him a reason to live again.”
“Hunting Adrenalites.” Roman snorted. “Doesn’t feel like a good reason anymore.”
“It was more than he had.”
Roman didn’t have an answer to that.
“Listen, Roman . . .” Ruby began slowly. “I’ve never been good at mincing my words. So I’m going to be honest with you.”
This is it. This is where she finally leaves me.
Ruby laid a hand on his shoulder. “Do you remember that night, after you punched Sparks, when I told you that it wasn’t really him that you were mad at?”
Roman nodded.
“You thought I meant that you were angry at the Adrenalite who killed Stevens, didn’t you?”
Roman nodded again.
“You’re such an idiot. I meant that
you were angry at yourself. You always have been. But you focus that hate on the Adrenalites. That’s why you thought you hated Sparks.”
Roman brushed her hand away. He stood up, facing away from Ruby, hands in his pockets. “I don’t know what to do now.”
“That’s a first. You always have some insane plan stuck in your head.”
“We can’t go back to being bounty hunters.”
“Maybe not. But you don’t have a reason to keep Candle alive anymore. You could give him to Juliette now, try to make things right with her.”
Roman shook his head. “You know that’s not an option.”
“I guess not.”
“She killed Tan. I’m not doing anything for her ever again. She can go to hell,” Roman spat through clenched teeth. “If hell would even let her in.”
“So kill Candle yourself.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I have some questions for him first. I want to know why Juliette was lying to us about Ashton Spencer working on a serum.”
Ruby’s brow creased. “Huh?”
“I talked to Spencer.”
“What did he say?”
“Not much. He shot himself.”
“But you believe he wasn’t creating a serum?”
“He was confused when I mentioned it. And Juliette basically confirmed it when I spoke to her. Whatever Spencer was doing for the ministry, that wasn’t it.”
Ruby sighed. “Fucking Juliette. We should have guessed she was lying. It’s just like her.”
“Yeah. It is.”
They fell into silence. Roman turned to the horizon, where the four Ministry towers stood, like four knives stuck into the ground. His jaw set, hands forming fists. This is Juliette’s fault, not mine, he told himself. She killed Tan, not me. I can’t sulk here, hating myself, while she goes back to hiding in her tower. A plan began to form in his head. He could make this right. He had to.
Ruby looked up at him. She smiled. “I know that face. You do have some insane plan, don’t you?”
Roman nodded slowly. “First, I’m going cut Candle until he tells me just what the hell Juliette is up to, and why Spencer really helped him escape.”
