Page 49 of The Arrival of the Dragons

“You’re stuck between a rock and a hard place. You had to make a decision to save your brothers. I get that,” Caden assured her. “That’s not important right now. What’s important is figuring out how to get you out of here.”

She seemed to fold in on herself even more. “There’s no getting out of here, Caden. I’m a terrorist.”

“You were an unwitting accessory,” Wally contradicted, tapping a stubby finger on the table. “While the law doesn’t differentiate at times, prosecutors do. Offer up what you know. Everything you know.”

She was shaking her head. “But my brothers--”

“Landry, your brothers have made their beds,” Wally said flatly. “You are the only one that could potentially get out of this. They won’t.”

She cringed again and Caden felt a welling of anger towards her brothers. How could they get their little sister involved in something like this? He tried to imagine him coercing Tilly into a plot to plant a bomb and just couldn’t! No matter how good the cause, he wouldn’t drag her into this. But Landry’s brothers had.

“Landry,” Caden said softly, “your brothers wanted to hurt people. In fact… They still want to hurt people. You never have.”

“I didn’t know,” she said weakly. “Not about the bomb, but I did about you, Caden.”

“Landry,” Wally continued. “I’ve always been straight with you. I think you know that I don’t give advice that I wouldn’t take.”

She nodded miserably.

Wally leaned forward. “The best thing you can do is to help stop Humans First and Jasper Hawes.”

Another sharp intake of breath. “They’ll hurt my family, Wally!”

“I’m not saying there aren’t risks, but I’m betting people can help you and your family disappear,” Wally said quietly.

Caden’s head jerked towards him. Had Chione asked Wally to offer this? Was this some kind of witness protection thing?

He felt Landry frowning. “But my brothers--”

“Again, there’s no saving them, sweetheart. But your mom and dad… yourself… These are the people you can save. And more. You can stop these bombings, Landry, and all the other bad things that Humans First are doing,” Wally told her. His mustache quivered with his intensity. “You did a wrong thing, Landry, by telling your brothers about the plans for the square and ratting out Caden, but you can more than make up for that by helping to stop Humans First.”

She was shaking her head, or maybe her whole body was just shaking. “I don’t know if I can do it, Wally. You don’t know what it’s like in here. You have to pick a side and I--I am not a Shifter so I--I need--”

“I knowexactlywhat it’s like in here, Landry, and other, worse prisons too,” Wally interrupted softly. “I know that you need protection and that the only real choice you’ve got is Humans First in there.”

She nodded after a moment. “I don’t hate Shifters, but… but if you don’t choose a side in here… I had to do it.”

Caden’s heart fell. He could well imagine that Landry needed protection in this place. The Shifters would want to kill her. If she didn’t choose Humans First then she would be on her own. But by choosing Humans First it made her seem all the more guilty.

“It’s actuallygoodthat you are with Humans First in here. You should amp up their belief in you,” Wally told her. “You should make them think that you’re solidly a part of them so that they will tell you things.”

“Things? Like what… oh.” Landry sat there, stunned.

“And then you can tell us those things and you’ll tell a judge and jury those same things. Do you see, Landry? You’ll have a chance to keep yourself safe, but also to keep others safe,” Wally said.

“I--I don’t know… maybe… if I could help, I’d want to help, but I’m--I’m scared, Wally!” she wailed.

Caden’s heart clenched again and all he wanted to do was break Landry out of here. Hearing Wally’s words had given him hope. Landry spying on Humans First seemed a tall order, but maybe not. She was one of the people who had tried to blow up the Shifters at the square. She was the sister of some of the ring leaders. She knew Jasper Hawes.

“I know it’s scary, sweetheart. But, trust me, you need to find your way out,” Wally said. His pudgy hands were clenched together on top of the table.

“I’m not sure,” she mumbled as she lowered her head.

“But you’ll think about it?” Caden asked.

She nodded silently.

Wally let out a breath he’d evidently been holding in. “That’s all we can ask for.”

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