Page 89 of The Sin

Oh, okay, maybe I’d laid it on a bit too thick while trying to keep Roman squeaky clean. “Do you know what Roman was doing when you were throwing me to a ballroom of wolves? He was getting himself battered and electrocuted, trying to help me escape the Guard. So no, I definitely do not want him in that cell. In any cell, ever.”

Her lips quirked.

“What?”

“You’re an interesting lady. I was impressed before, but you’ve managed to surprise me yet again.” She gave a slow shake of her head, her mouth still amused, and picked out one of the iComms. “Very well, if that’s your wish. Consider your husband released from custody. He’ll be waiting for you outside the Guard Station by the time you cross the road.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“There’s more,” I said. “Daniel Edgar and the other heirs.”

“What about them?”

“They have to be released, too.”

“Trust me, you do not want that.”

“Trust me, I do.”

She sighed, blinked long and hard, and flourished her hand again. “Please, sit. Let’s discuss this.”

“I’m in a hurry to collect my husband,” I reminded her. “He’s injured, I don’t even know how badly, so I’d rather not sit.”

“Then I’ll make this short and sweet.” Her tone lost a fraction of its graceful warmth. “The heirs will only be released once I’ve deemed them no longer a threat.”

“They’re not a threat,” I said. “Daniel Edgar certainly isn’t. You can’t punish him for his father’s sins.”

“Boys grow up to either be their fathers, or to avenge their fathers.” She shrugged a shoulder. “You may not want to hear this, but it’s the truth. We’ve taken Capra tonight, but make no mistake, our hold on it is precarious. We cannot afford to show any weakness—”

“Compassion isn’t weakness,” I argued. “Having faith in people isn’t weakness.”

“Capra is three-quarters male, and many of those men have enjoyed the benefits of council rule. I won’t have a subversive army rising up from the shadows. I won’t give them any hope that their old way of life could be restored.”

“If you’re suggesting Daniel would start an underground network…of what…? The Brotherhood? You don’t know him at all. And what about the other heirs you’ve taken. Some of them are only children.”

“The council must be stamped out in all its iterations,” she said firmly, flatly.

My blood ran cold. I didn’t know what she meant by that, but it was nothing good. “No.”

Her brow shot up.

“I said no,” I repeated, my grip tightening over the top of the chair. “You don’t get to destroy an innocent life just because you’re afraid of what it might grow into.”

“My dear Georga.” Her voice was silken, but her eyes cut into me like steel-tipped arrows. “You are the face of our revolution. You are our spark. But do not presume to imagine you run this show. A spark can be stomped out just as quickly as it ignited.”

My mouth went dry.

I felt sick to the pit of my stomach.

My grip on the chair was so tight, pains shot through to my wrists.

What had I done?

The words Roman had given me in the tunnel swam inside my head. Knowledge isn’t good or bad, it’s just knowledge. What you do with it, however, that has the potential to lead to sin.

I’d given this woman my truths. I’d given her this power. And now I wasn’t sure, not at all, that she’d use it wisely.

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