“Tan’s dead.”
Ruby gasped. “How?”
“Juliette killed him.”
“Why?”
Roman looked away. “I’ll explain later. For now, we need to…” he trailed off. What were they supposed to do now? All he had been thinking about was getting Ruby back, but now she was safe, he had no idea what to do. Caleb’s back there. I have to help him.
“You need to get out of here,” he ordered. “I’m going back for Caleb. He’s—” He’s trying to save Sparks. Who turned rogue. How am I meant to explain that to Ruby?
She shook her head. “I’m not leaving you here.”
“We came here because we were trying to save you. I’m not letting you die here.”
“And I’m not leaving without you.”
Roman didn’t want to abandon Caleb, but he absolutely had to get Ruby away from here. Ruby’s jaw locked in determination; Roman knew that no matter what he said, she wouldn’t leave without him. That didn’t leave him with a choice.
“Then we’re both leaving. Now.” Roman picked up Candle again. The bastard was heavy. “Let’s go.”
“But Caleb—”
“I’m not arguing about this.” Roman took off, running as fast as he could manage.
Ruby followed. “Where’s Sparks?”
“Not now.”
She let the matter go, and they fell into silence as they ran, side by side, out of the station.
34
The gates to the station were left unguarded. A wave of relief washed over Ruby as they made it out to the street. She had done it; she had gotten Roman out. She immediately felt guilty for that relief, knowing that Tan wasn’t so lucky.
Roman stumbled under the weight of Candle. Ruby shouldered her bow and supported him with an arm around his waist. She was still shocked to see how hurt he looked. His face was covered in blood and bruises, his neck a dark shade of blue that was painful just to look at, and his eyes, they looked haunted. That was what scared Ruby the most.
Roman pointed towards a building, just ahead. “We’ll hide there and wait for the militia to leave.”
Ruby bit back the dozens of questions she was desperate to ask. Safety was their priority. Once inside, she helped carry Candle up the stairs, eventually stopping at the sixth story. Choosing a room with windows facing the station, they dumped Candle in the corner. Ruby moved to the window. Below, the station had gone quiet.
Ruby glanced at Candle, pulling an arrow out of her quiver and spinning it around in her hand. He looked pretty much like she had imagined him, apart from the oddly straight scar that ran down the middle of his chest. Why hadn’t Roman killed him already?
Roman stood by the window next to her, silent, his expression unreadable. Ruby tried to catch his eye, but his gaze stayed firmly fixed on the station. There was little doubt he was cursing himself over and over in his head.
Ruby spoke first. “Just what the hell is going on? Why are we hiding from the militia? Why did Juliette kill Tan?”
“We had Candle, and we couldn’t give him to her. We thought we needed him to—”
“To save me,” she finished for him.
“Yeah.”
“Fucking hell, Roman. I looked after myself, didn’t I? You shouldn’t have tried to—”
“What was I supposed to do? Sit on my arse and do nothing, while Gavin had you? No way.”
“Gavin’s dead. I killed him.”
“How the hell did you do that?”
Ruby looked away. “I told you, I don’t want to talk about it.”
She wanted to tell him. But if she told him about how bad it had been, she knew he would never stop blaming himself for letting her get captured. But it had been her fault. She alone deserved the blame. Secondly, she would have to admit how scared she had been, and she couldn’t do that, not to Roman. Juliette’s words echoed in her head: you can’t show weakness. If you show it, you can never stop yourself feeling it.
So she kept her mouth shut and let the silence drag on.
Movement at the station caught her eye. The militia exited from the front gates, some limping, others carrying their wounded, the rest staggering wearily. There couldn’t have been more than four dozen left. As they passed below, Ruby saw that they weren’t carrying wounded — they were carrying unconscious Adrenalites. She frowned, confused. Why aren’t they taking them to the wind farms?
Finally, the militia moved down the street and out of sight. Ruby sighed, stretching her aching shoulders. She and Roman were safe. For now. No doubt Juliette was already planning to search the entire city for them.
Out of the corner of her eye, Ruby saw someone else leaving the power station. Caleb. Almost laughing with relief, Ruby cupped a hand around her mouth and called out, waving. Caleb didn’t look up. She kicked the wall to break off a chunk of brick, then tossed it down to the street below. That got Caleb’s attention.
Two minutes later, Caleb stepped into the room, shoulders hunched. Somehow, he managed to look small. “You’re here…” he said to Ruby. “How?”
Ruby grinned. “I found a way. Did you ever doubt me?”
“Well, I won’t again.”
“What happened to Sparks?” Roman asked Caleb.
“Juliette took him.”
Ruby was confused. “Why would she take Sparks?”
“Sparks… went rogue,” Roman said quietly.
“What?” Ruby looked between Roman and Caleb. Neither met her gaze. “Why?”
Then Roman told her everything that had happened, staring at his feet the whole time. Ruby listened in silence, not trusting herself to speak as her disbelief turned to frustration, then finally grew into anger. Now she understood why Roman didn’t want to tell her where Sparks was. When he finished speaking, she stepped forward and punched him in the face. On the most bruised side. Hard.
“I fucking warned you, didn’t I? Of course he went rogue, after the way you treated him.”
Roman barely reacted to the blow. After a moment of stillness, his shoulders sagged and he closed his eyes, letting out a slow sigh. “I deserved that.”
“Damn right you did. Ever since you bought Sparks, you were nothing but an asshole to him.”
Roman recoiled as if she had punched him again.
“You’re not the hero you think you are,” Ruby continued. “You’re not some crusader for justice, defending Legacy from the rogues. None of us are heroes. We’re bounty hunters. We trade lives for money.”
“It wasn’t about the money,” Roman said quietly.
“Of course it wasn’t. It was about you needing someone to kill, someone to get revenge on. Did it work? Do you feel better now that you drove Sparks away?”
Roman finally met her gaze. “Tan’s dead, Ruby. How the fuck do you think I feel?”
Ruby’s anger died in her chest. He was right. Tan was dead, and here she was shouting at Roman. She couldn’t blame him for what he had done, not really. Ruby knew she how she had once hated the Adrenalites just as much as him. How could she not, after what had happened. She moved to grab his hand, to apologize, but he turned away and walked out of the room.
Ruby moved to follow, but Caleb stepped into her way. “He needs a moment,” he said quietly. “Best to give it to him, I reckon.”
“But—”
“It wasn’t a suggestion.”
Ruby slowly nodded, and Caleb let her go. She sat down against the wall, completely exhausted but too frustrated to let herself rest. Frustrated at Roman, and at herself. “Well, we did it,” she said bitterly. “We caught Candle. The job is complete. Congratulations to us, the greatest fucking bounty hunters this city has ever seen.”