Page 124 of Gunslinger Girl
“How did you know we were here? And how do we know you’re not with Sheridan, too?”
“Luster. She said you told her not to trust anyone, but she knew about my time with Siena, so she came to me.”
“Relax, Jones.” Siena holstered her weapon. “You vouched for your girl, and I’m vouching for Olivia.”
“What about them?” Pity indicated the guards behind her. “Santino’s turned some of the Tin Men. Those two over there were with him!”
Olivia’s eyes went wide at Santino’s name, her mouth dropping open in protest. But it closed when she spotted his body. She went over to the dead Tin Men. “These were Santino’s men, all right, brought on by him in the last six months, no more. Everyone with me has been with Casimir for years.” Her voice thickened. “Shit… Santino.”
“He’s dead!” Pity shoved her guns back into her belt. “And we need to get Max to Doc Starr!” She returned to his side. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw that his eyes were closed, but they fluttered open and fixed on her. “Hold on,” she said. “Just a little while longer.”
“For you?” Max winced as Siena got an arm under him. “Sure, why not. Selene… is she?”
“Check her!” Pity cried. “She was moving a minute ago. Beau’s alive, too, and…” She froze.
Selene was sitting up, Adora’s body cradled in her lap, her face half buried in the young woman’s hair. Their respective masks of rigid confidence and casual indifference were gone, and for the first time, Pity saw the resemblance that had been hidden beneath them. Adora must have looked more like her father, but it was there nonetheless.
Her eyes met Selene’s.
We do learn so much from our mothers. Selene had said that at their first meeting, hadn’t she?
The mask returned. She held a hand on her neck, and one side of her was soaked with blood from at least two more wounds Pity could see.
“Help her!” Olivia ordered two of the Tin Men.
Pity turned back to Max. Siena and another Tin Man had him standing, but the patch on his stomach was soaked through. He raised his head weakly. Pity went to him, grabbed his face in her hands, and kissed him. Hard. She lingered there, on lips colder than they should be, terrified to break away.
It felt too much like a kiss good-bye.
“Pity,” he whispered when they broke apart. “If Sheridan is working with my—with them…”
“I know.”
“Go. Stop him,” said Max.
“Don’t die on me.”
“I won’t if you won’t.”
Pity smiled, unable to keep the tears from leaking out. Then she stepped back and drew her guns again. “I’m going after Sheridan. His forces are still coming. If we can get him, maybe we can make him call off the attack.” She started toward the elevator. “Siena?”
The bounty hunter shook her head. “This ain’t my business anymore—he is. Oh, don’t look so hurt. I’m gonna keep hell from coming for him if I gotta fight it myself. This bounty’s too good to lose.”
“Fine,” she snapped. “I’ll go alone!”
“Not alone.” Olivia fell in beside her.
Pity nodded at her. “You keep him safe,” she called back to Siena.
“Serendipity,” Selene croaked.
They paused. Selene had her good arm slung around a Tin Man, who was working to apply dressings to her wounds. Pity waited, but Selene didn’t say anything. She didn’t need to. Adora lying at her feet was enough.
In the elevator, Olivia checked her rifle as they descended, each floor they passed beeping quietly, like a slow heartbeat. “What was that about Max and a bounty?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” Pity busied herself by inspecting the wound on her arm. Blood oozed and it burned like hellfire, but she could manage. “The guards on the front doors are probably Sheridan’s, too.”
“Maybe,” said Olivia, “but you didn’t think I ran to your rescue without raising the alarm, did you? Casimir should be on lockdown by now.”
