Page 102 of Love, Nemesis
All of this had already happened.
“Cal, hop on,” Lethe said, gesturing to a horse nearby. “Emma, come here. Do you remember the plan?”
“Yes,” she said.
“Good,” he whispered, “because I’m not sure I do.”
Cal glanced back, hearing the words and stopping. He walked back up near Lethe and Emma.
“Lethe,” Cal said his name warily. “This better be quick.”
“We just have to let the fight go on for a while,” Lethe replied.
“You don’t have a while, by the looks of it,” Emma objected, catching Cal’s attention.
“Remember something closer,” Cal demanded. “Remember the fighting closer!” He gestured to a door. “Take us closer. Can you?”
Lethe removed his helmet a second time as it reappeared on his head. He didn’t have much of a choice. “Hang on,” he said, gritting his teeth.
Emma grabbed his sleeve and then Cal’s hand as Lethe headed for the door of a nearby house. He walked through it.
They pushed into a scene full of fire.
This, Lethe remembered vividly.
Cal gagged at the stench of burning flesh as the Bleeding Grin towered above them again. This time, torches lined its base. The houses, the towers, and the city were all aflame and roaring.
Cal and Emma stood beside him, observing as ROSE worked in the thick of the chaos to hoist bodies up to burn. They lit the first body and then the second, all covered in oil. The last body went up in flames, illuminating the vast fields of carnage.
Lightning cracked across the sky. Thunder boomed. A light sprinkle of rain transformed into a torrent.
Lethe stood still beside Cal, and he could feel the boy’s tension and horror. Lethe turned toward him but Cal nearly leapt back, drawing his Atlas, visibly terrified by the sights around him.
“Emma,” Lethe said, keeping his eyes on Cal as if he might run off into the flames. “Can you see the door?”
Emma calmly scanned the base of the Grin through the fire. “I see it,” she said.
Lethe turned to see Cal with his eyes still intent, his Atlas drawn.
“Think about what you’re doing, Cal,” Lethe said firmly.
“Don’t,” Cal said, raising his voice. He searched the area around them. It transformed slowly into a marsh of ash and human remains as the oil from the bodies congealed in the water. “Don’t!” Cal demanded louder when Lethe didn’t reply.
Lethe extended his hand. “Put the Atlas down and listen to me. I’m not your enemy. We’re too far to lose. Put your weapon down. Ivan Rowe is so close.”
Cal just stared at him.
“Cal.”
The boy looked around at the devastation. “You burned everyone,” he said hopelessly. “It wasn’t just the Strike…you burned all of the civilians. You did anything you had just to win. Is that even…human?”
“No,” Lethe replied sharply. “It was wrong. And maybe there wasn’t a right choice, but Cal, I didn’t see one. That could be a fault of mine. I don’t deny it. We couldn’t risk anyone getting out, not even ourselves.”
Lethe couldn’t tell if Cal was accepting his answer. He looked past him to Emma, who watched them both calmly.
“Cal,” she said, nearing him and placing a hand on his shoulder. She pulled him into her chest as he shook. “It’s a horrible thing he did,” she said, tearing up now.
Seeing her tears, Cal softened. Emma stroked his hair.“But he did it for people like you,” she whispered, resting her cheek on Cal’s head so that Lethe couldn’t see her face. Emma had always hated the very notion of the burning. She had protested it to the end. Even now, she said the words for Lethe’s sake alone.
