Page 16 of The Flame

“Don’t be so dense,” she snapped. “Without Daniel, I am nothing.”

“I’ll get Daniel back to you, I promise.”

“I don’t want Daniel!” Her voice soared again. “I want my councilman husband back. I want my life back!”

It took a minute for understanding to sink in.

My jaw sagged, although it shouldn’t have come as a surprise.

This was one of the reasons our friendship had flagged, after all. From the moment Brenda had become Mrs. Daniel Edgar, it was like a switch had flipped. The girl from St. Ives wasgone, replaced with a pretentious, callous-hearted, self-centered witch.

She didn’t give a damn about Daniel.

She’d never loved him.

And she honestly thought that I’d engineered an entire revolution out of jealousy. Jealous of her, and her and Daniel, and their possessions. It was more ridiculous than anything I could ever have imagined.

“Good luck with that,” I said and stepped around her, walking out that room and straight out of the house.

A mix of self-loathing and self-righteousness rolled through me as I cycled home, forming a ball of anger, guilt and loss in the pit of my stomach.

Turns out, I had plenty of regrets.

I regretted betraying Roman and Daniel’s trust. I regretted that mission, sneaking behind their backs to steal Julian’s handprint.

I regretted the situation Roman and I had found ourselves in last night. I regretted Roman jumping to my defense last night and getting himself electrocuted and beaten.

I regretted the state of Daniel’s future. If I couldn’t stop it, Geneva would send him to rehab, and when he returned, he wouldn’t be Daniel anymore.

I regretted the toll everything had taken on my friendship with Jessie.

But I did not regret speaking my truths.

I did not regret using my voice.

I did not regret the Sisterhood rising to stamp out the Council.

And I certainly did not regret Brenda losing her extravagant home and status in society.

When I got home, I busied myself making a chicken and vegetable casserole for dinner. The task didn’t keep my mind from spinning. Around and around I went, spinning throughguilt, indignation, self-justification and, I’m ashamed to say, bouts of self-pity.

Do you regret anything you’ve done?Roman had asked.Would you do anything differently?

I desperately wanted to say yes, I would do everything differently.

The problem was, I didn’t know what that ‘different’ looked like.

What was the alternative?

Sitting back and doing nothing?

Even stealing Julian’s handprint…I regretted having to do it, but if I hadn’t, the council would still be in control.

I wanted a third choice. I wanted to do everything differently, but still arrive at the same place—without the consequences of course. Daniel wouldn’t be behind bars. I wouldn’t have betrayed anyone’s trust. Jessie wouldn’t be mad at me. Roman wouldn’t be filled with doubts about me and us.

I’d just slid the casserole out of the oven when I received a message on my iComm. Geneva had scheduled a meeting with me for tomorrow morning, at the Foundation Hall. It didn’t sound optional, but that was okay. I wanted to meet with Geneva, too.

It was a little after seven, and Roman wasn’t home yet.

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