Page 370 of Shadowblood Souls
Those officials are probably offering him a huge fee, for one thing.
Does it really matter, though? Would I rather go back to being prodded and tested, knowing I let a bunch of innocent people die that I could have saved, just to spite him?
That’s exactly the dilemma Clancy wants us to face.
He crosses his arms over his chest, his blue eyes turning penetrating. “You’ll need to agree to take on this mission without knowing which of you will actually be sent out. And understanding that if you agree and you sabotage the assignment, your friendswillsuffer for it. There are lengths I’d have preferred not to go to, but if that’s what’s necessary for you to respect the responsibility you’re being given, so be it.”
My skin turns clammy beneath my shirt.
Of course, he’s made it clear that if wedon’tagree, we’ll all be tormented regardless.
We’ve gotten out of every tight spot we’ve found ourselves in before now… but my scrambling mind can’t identify a single shimmer of hope.
Clancy nods to the guardians around us. “I’m sending you back to your rooms to recover and think on it. Any harm that you inflict on my people will be inflicted on yours twice over, so be careful how you use your powers. You have twenty-four hours to make a decision. Choose wisely.”
With a rasp of his heel, he turns his back on us.
Twenty-Eight
Andreas
At the sight of Riva sitting at the far end of the cafeteria, my heart just about leaps out of my chest.
I haven’t crossed paths with any of my fellow Firsts since Clancy gave us his little presentation two days ago, even though yesterday I agreed to go along with his mission.
The others must have too. I can’t imagine any of them consigning themselves to total isolation and torture instead.
At least this way we might have some wiggle room to decide our fate.
But I was starting to think he wasn’t going to let us mingle with each other at all anymore. Not on the island, anyway.
As I walk over, holding myself back from sprinting to her side in case that would provoke the guardians, Riva glances up from her plate and sees me. The brightening of her face washes away the stress of the past two days.
At the same time, my stomach dips. I glance around the room, noting the two guardians in their usual posts near the door.
Nothing about the cafeteria looks different. I can’t believe that Clancy is offering us this opportunity to talk out of the goodness of his heart, though.
The fact that he’s letting it happen means it could benefit him in some way. He’s got to be monitoring us even more closely than he was before.
We’ll have to watch every word so carefully. Not let a single hint of mutiny show.
A wobble of doubt runs through my pulse, and there’s an instant when I almost avoid Riva’s table altogether, as desperately as I want to bask in her presence. What if I’m misjudging the situation even with my sense of caution?
Wouldn’t it look more suspicious if Idon’teven talk to her? Any problems we had in the past were nothing to do with things I said.
I shoot her a smile and a nod, passing by, and quickly spoon chili onto my plate from a tureen. The hearty, spicy scent does nothing to settle my nerves as I sit down across from her.
“It’s good to see you.”
Riva smiles back at me, but the corners of her mouth stay tight. “Same. You’ve been okay?”
She’s taking the same careful approach I meant to. Good.
“Yeah.” I dig my fork in among the beans and bits of ground beef. “I haven’t seen anyone except the younger shadowbloods until now.”
“Me neither.” She takes a bite from her mostly cleaned plate and scans the room warily. “I guess Clancy decidedeveryonehere was better off if we still had some contact.”
“Everyone” as in him too. Yep, she’s definitely come to the same conclusions about his motivations as I have.
