Page 3 of The Flame

“Last night would never have been a possibility,” I continued. “Nothing would ever have changed.”

“Change isn’t always a good thing.”

“You don’t mean that.”

“Don’t I?” She laughed, a hard, brittle laugh. “Yesterday I was happy. Harry and I were happy. We love each other. Maybe everything in Capra wasn’t perfect, but I knew what to expect. I was content.”

“You didn’t have a voice.” I frowned at her, seriously confused now. Had she really been content? “We were second-class citizens, forever children forced to submit to the will of our father or husband or some man.”

“Harry wasn’t like that,” Jessie stated plainly. “He treated me like an equal. I know it wasn’t perfect, I’ve never said it was, but todayeverythingis a mess. Today all I have is hurt and anger and uncertainty. I don’t know what this Sisterhood will do to Harry. Will he be allowed to keep his job? Will we still be living in our home tomorrow? Will he be locked up just because he’s a man?”

“Of course not.” I didn’t feel half as confident as I sounded. Look at Daniel. He hadn’t done anything wrong. He hadn’t broken any law. He was locked up just because he was an heir.

Jessie sat back in her chair, her gaze dropping.

I brought my mug to my mouth and sipped. The warm liquid slid down my throat. The caffeine hit my bloodstream. My skin still felt like ice.

I didn’t have absolute faith in the Sisterhood. Not anymore. I didn’t like the way they’d blindsided me last night. I hated how Roman had gotten caught up in my fight. I was worried about Daniel. Disappointment wallowed in the bottom of my stomach and anger brushed along every nerve ending in my body. Every breath felt like a suppressed scream.

But I wasn’t prepared to accept—or go back to—the regime we’d overthrown. For all their faults, the Sisterhood had to be better than the council.

A noise from behind pulled my head around. My gaze landed on Roman, emerging from the bedroom. He’d pulled on a fresh t-shirt over the sweatpants he’d slept in. He wasn’t limping, but the effort that cost showed in the careful, precise steps he took.

“Sorry,” I said. “Did we wake you?”

“It’s about time someone did.” His halfhearted attempt at a grin was lopsided. “It’s afternoon.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Better than I look.” He reached me and dropped a kiss on the top of my head. “Hello, Jessie.”

I turned to see her wrangle a grim smile from her sour mood. That’s all the greeting he received, but her eyes softened as she took in his swollen jaw and black eye.

“There’s fresh coffee.” I made to stand, but Roman pressed me back down with a hand on my shoulder.

“I’ll get it.” He walked around the counter. “Then I’ll get out of the way.”

“You’re not disturbing us.”

“I could do with the fresh air.” Roman poured himself a black coffee and crossed the room. “My head feels like it’s wading through sludge.”

That would be all the pain meds.

He went out onto the deck, closing the glass sliding door behind him.

Jessie’s gaze snapped to me. “What the hell happened to him?”

“He got caught up in last night,” I explained. “We were both taken by surprise at the Foundation Ball. After the screening first went out, the Guard came after me. Roman fought them off. At least, he tried…”

Jessie took her time with that. Then the cracks in her outrage finally started showing. “You seriously didn’t know beforehand?”

“I knew something was in the works, but I never imagined it would happen so soon, and I wasn’t expecting a full out revolution.”

The Sisterhood had thrown me to the wolves without a lifeline. They’d used me, taken everything from me without permission—my words, my truth—they’d been prepared to take my freedom and maybe even my life if things hadn’t gone quite according to their grand plan.

I didn’t say that to Jessie, though. There was a time when I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she’d understand why I accepted it, why I’d allowed it, why I would still fight for the Sisterhood …but now I was no longer so sure.

Change isn’t always a good thing.

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