Page 51 of The Flame

His hands fell from my arms. He looked at me, digesting, his jaw going slack, then rock hard. “It’s too late to change your mind. Even if you manage to return and slip your security card into the deposit box before anyone notices, that night nurse has seen your face. He can identify you.”

“I know I can’t go home, Roman. That’s not it.” I took his hands in mine. “I’ve been thinking about what you said, about elected governments and people having the power. Another time, another way of thinking, another kind of life.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” he growled, his brow spearing as he stepped back from me. “Georga, what is happening here?”

“Maybe it can be our time, our way of thinking, our kind of life again.” I tucked my hands into my coat pockets, missing the warmth of his touch, bristling beneath his sting.

But I wouldn’t back down.

This had been weighing on me all day. I’d made this decision a while ago, in the janitor’s closet. I just hadn’t realized it until this very moment.

“The Sisters of Capra, and Geneva, they have the same unlimited, unchallenged power as the council,” I said. “We’ve traded one regime for another. We can do better. At least, I have to try. I just need a little more time here, that’s all, then I’ll join you in The Smoke. I can keep myself safe. Hidden.”

“Hidden,” he deadpanned, his voice clipped. “Where?”

“The nature reserve, maybe?” I wasn’t working off a plan here. “One of the log cabins?”

“That’s the first place they’ll search.”

“I’ll stay one step ahead of them, move as I need to. I’m not being reckless here, Roman. I’ll be careful. I’ll be smart.”

“No.” He wasn’t relenting. “I’ve given you everything, everything that was within my power to give you, but I can’t let you have this. I’m not going to stand by while you throw yourself at their mercy once again.”

“Roman, I love you.” My eyes felt hot with unshed tears. Was this how I lost him? “But running away before I’ve even tried? It feels like I’m giving up on Capra. And…”

My mind was ticking, catching up. “The letter I wrote to my parents explains everything, why I felt I had to help Daniel and the heirs, and how I have to escape to The Smoke with them. I haven’t mentioned you in it at all. I’ll take the letter back to our house and leave it somewhere visible for Geneva to find. She’ll believe we’ve all gone to The Smoke. There won’t be any reason to search Capra. I’ll be safer here than there.”

They were always going to find out we’d gone to The Smoke. Sooner rather than later wouldn’t make much difference.

Roman hung his head, clearly exasperated. “No one ever changed a damn thing by hiding out in the forest and staying safe.”

“Maybe they’ve never tried it my way. I’m going to give Capra what the Sisterhood promised but never delivered.” What Axel and his friends were already doing, even if they didn’t know it. “A rebellion of words.”

I brought my hand up to cup his jaw, pulling his gaze back to me. “I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life loving you whether that’s here in Capra, in The Smoke or in the wilds. Today we saved Daniel, but who will save the next person?”

When he looked at me again, I saw it in his eyes. He knew we couldn’t give up without at least trying. “Why does it have to be you?”

“Because I’m the flame,” I said. “I have a voice, and right now I am loud and I am heard, but that won’t always be the case. It has to be me, and it has to be now.”

He groaned, raking a hand through his hair, a sober grin twisting his mouth. “How do you always do this to me?”

“Because I’m stubborn and spoilt and I never learned to take no for an answer?” A smile touched my lips, then slipped away. “Because it’s what you would do, what youhavedone, when you went to war with the Union Families in memory of Amelia. Your life’s ambition was to bring law and order to the corrupt quarters of The Smoke. And even now, with the council gone, if the Protectorate hadn’t stepped up, you would be finding another way to make The Smoke a safer place for those young girls.”

He pulled me into his arms, his warm breath brushing my frozen ear lobe. “Give me five minutes to send the heirs on their way.” He drew back to look at me. “Where’s that letter?”

“In my overnight bag in the truck,” I said. “But you don’t have time for this detour. Once they know you’re involved in this escape, they’ll stop you at the gate. I’ll take the letter home and then slip off into the nature reserve.”

“I’m not worried about getting myself through the gate,” he countered. “When I took out the guard, he never saw my face. They may think I’m in cahoots with my wife, but they can’t prove it and they won’t dare stop a warden on a whim.”

He lowered himself into the hole before I could argue further. I considered my options, and stayed exactly where I was. It was a cold, dark and bitterly miserable night and there was no reason to go on foot when I had a ride. I was inclined to agree with Roman. Even if they had concrete evidence, Geneva would be stupid to mess with the wardens, and Geneva wasn’t stupid.

It wasn’t long before Roman returned, and he wasn’t alone.

“He’s joining your cause,” Roman said as Daniel emerged from the hatch behind him.

“Don’t worry, I know I don’t qualify for the women’s liberation movement.” Daniel gave me a sheepish grin. “I’m just here for moral support, and to watch your back.”

“You’re here to babysit me.” I scowled at Roman, who was lowering the cover over the hatch. “Did you put him up to this?”

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