Page 93 of Choosing Jenny
Jenny’s face contorted with dismay and fear. “What? What does that mean?”
“She will live in the palace as his personal guest until Justice believes he can trust me and Longshot again.”
“Then fix whatever you did that made him not trust you!” she yelled across the table at him, and I could see her start to spiral with panic.
His jaw tightened. “It’s not that easy—”
She smacked the table so hard and loud I was surprised it didn’t startle Surge awake. “Make it that easy, Mal. You’re responsible for this!”
His own eyes flashed with a combination of guilt and frustration. “Justice does not trust us—Longshot, Rasmine or Noc—enough right now because Rasmine, as it turns out, was the one to hire an assassin.” He gestured to the stains on Longshot’s clothes. “Thatis what remains of the assassin, Jenny. He ripped the man apart on the rack. He splattered the man’s guts on everyone in the room. Justice is not given to those sorts of theatrics easily. He thinks he can’t trust us, which means we will have to earn back his trust with him holding your sister over us as leverage, and that, I am afraid, will take time.”
Tears suddenly filled Jenny’s eyes. “I have to tell Sarah, she needs to know that our sister is being held hostage—”
“I would hold off on that, if I were you,” I cut her off, before she could use her driver to send Sarah a message. “You know her pregnancy isn’t going well. If she lost the baby after you told her about Elizabeth, you’d blame yourself forever.”
Discord nodded in agreement as she wiped her face clear of her own emotional outburst. “He’s right, Jenny. Even if it had nothing to do with the pregnancy going badly, you would still feel guilty if anything awful happened.”
Jenny looked like she might implode with anger. “So what, I just sit here, saying and doing nothing?”
“You won’t be doing nothing,” Discord said, regathering her composure. “When Surge wakes, there is still the matter of the Illiapol ghosts to help.”
Jenny jumped up from her seat. “Fuck the ghosts! That asshole has my sister!”
Tears trickled down her face, and each one tore me apart. I wanted to strangle Justice with my own bare hands but I also understood Mal’s dilemma.
Everyone else was afraid to speak. Everyone but Longshot. “Jenny—”
She spun around to face him, glaring in his direction. “What!”
“I know you are angry—”
“Yathink?”
He didn’t even flinch at the fury she aimed his way. “That rage tearing through you, the churn of your gut, the fire inside of you. Tell me, if you informed your sister that Justice has Elizabeth, what do you think feeling all ofthatwould do to Sarah, in her current condition?”
Jenny’s mouth opened to argue and then closed. The anger slowly drained from her face and she sat down again. But the tears didn’t stop. Her voice was stunted as she choked out, “What am I supposed to do, Longshot?”
“Whatever youcando,” he said calmly. “Focus on the things you can change or improve. That way, when the time comes to eliminate Justice Bateen, you will be ready. Once my hand is completely healed, we can resume training again, like we did for Illiapol. I would like to see what you can do with a hand cannon. I can train you to shoot. It is much easier than interpersonal combat.”
She exhaled a deep breath, slowly sat back down, and dashed away the last remnants of her tears. “Okay, but you and Malice have to do everything in your power to make sure Justice does not hurt Elizabeth while she is at the palace as hispersonal guest. Whatever the fuckthatmeans.”
Malice looked as worn out as the rest of us, but his voice stayed steady. “Of course we will do everything we can to ensure her safety, Jen. Whatever it takes. When the time comes to take Justice out, we will make sure she is somewhere safefirst. I swear it.”
She gave him and Longshot a tremulous smile. “Thank you. Both of you.”
“Of course.” Malice regarded everyone once more. “Is there any other new news which should be addressed this evening?”
I almost spoke up, but my decision regarding the clan felt like nothing compared to what everyone else was going through, so I kept that to myself for now.
When everyone remained quiet, Malice rose. “Alright then. It’s been a long day. I know we’re all exhausted, so I say we all go to bed. Discord, do you need help with Surge—”
“I’ve got him,” I said, already getting to my feet and scooping the little man up in my arms. “You’ve had to carry him more than enough tonight, Discord.”
She smiled, but her brow remained pinched like another wave of tears might threaten to overwhelm her at any moment. “I’ll get the door for you.”
I followed her through the halls to Surge’s bedroom. Unlike his lab, it was bright and airy. No bottles of chemicals or books on shelves or random small animals hanging from wires to dry. Instead, there were crisp white sheets on the bed, and his yellow curtains were spread open.
I laid him down and she covered him with a blanket. “This room is not what I had expected of him at all.”
