Page 75 of Love, Nemesis
Ares spoke up. “Ana, would you feel differently if I told you that John Hailey and the State have been collaborating with the last Strike, Ivan Rowe?”
“Ah,” Lethe said under his breath, catching a glare from Ana.
“How do you know?” she demanded.
“I intercepted letters between them,” Ares said. “It’s how I discovered Ivan Rowe was still alive. Ivan was the one who handed the source of The Great Light over to the State. They’ve been working together for years.”
Ana eased back into her chair. Jasper followed. No one said anything. After a while, she looked up across the table to Lethe who sat back, one hand propped up under his elbow, his knuckles resting against his temple.
As strange as it seemed despite all of the revelations, Ana had been prepared to die in peace knowing that she was leaving the State behind, the State which she had helped support, the State which she had believed in. With all of its flaws, the State was not John Hailey, or its corruption. To her, it had been a dream, and she’d given her time in hopes of helping it become a better place. She believed that she had, despite it all, and that there were other good people doing the same.
It wasn’t just a place. It was her home. It was her legacy. It was the life she’d built apart from her En Sanctan past.
There had to be another way to fix all of this.
“How good of a ROSE are you?” she asked Lethe.
He smirked. “Not too bad.”
“Good enough to kill Ivan Rowe?”
Lethe’s eyes narrowed.
“Good,” she said abruptly. “I’m betting on you killing the Strike.”
She looked over at Ares. “You have letters proving Hailey, the Var, and anyone else have been collaborating with the Strike? Can we have those?”
“With the Strike’s seal. They’re upstairs. Help yourself,” Ares said coolly.
She looked over at Jasper. “Will you come with me to try and sabotage the Mystics or are you staying here?”
“I’ll go with you,” Jasper said flatly as if there were no alternative.
“We will alert the Hours on the border by sending out notices in the closest town nearby,” Ana said, her mind racing. “Even if this seems hopeless—a lot of tragedy just happens and that’s it, but there has to be another way of doing things, even if that other way is just having faith that there is something else to be done.”
Her words drifted out into the air, words that had been passed down to her, words that had carried her all of these years. Jasper seemed lost in troubled thoughts. Cal kept looking among them. Ares was watching her pensively, but Lethe, Lethe stared as if he’d seen a ghost.
As soon as she met his eyes, he looked away, brows furrowed as if something had struck him.
“And let’s say all of this works,” Ares started, seeming genuinely intrigued. “Somehow, you manage to slow down these armies, prove Hailey’s guilt, have him imprisoned along with any other collaborators, the Strike is dead and can do you no harm.” He paused. “What are you going to do with me, Ana?”
Lethe clapped, drawing the attention of the room. “Before the two of you head down that potentially dangerous direction,” he said, directing his attention to Ares. “Where do I find Ivan Rowe?”
Ana wanted to hit Lethe. Granted, his behavior now seemed oddly more comforting than it had been in the mountains. This felt normal—believable.She wondered briefly what had phased him only a second ago.
“Letters were addressed to the city of Xal Xel,” Ares said.
“How do I get to Xal Xel?” Lethe asked.
“You have no allies, Lethe.”
“I’m prepared,” Lethe replied without hesitation. “I just need a good Statesman to show me the way.” He glanced over at Cal. “Someone will need to take credit for killing the last Strike, won’t they? I imagine that’s better than bringing home a war hero.” Lethe started to stand up.
“We’ll leave this afternoon,” Ana said, picking up her part of the discussion.
“Ana, we need a real plan,” Jasper objected.
“You speak the language. You look like them. I’ll create a diversion. You torch their supplies,” Ana shot back.
