Roman brushed her hand away. He stood up, facing away from Ruby, hands in his pockets. “I don’t know what to do now.”
“That’s a first. You always have some insane plan stuck in your head.”
“We can’t go back to being bounty hunters.”
“Maybe not. But you don’t have a reason to keep Candle alive anymore. You could give him to Juliette now, try to make things right with her.”
Roman shook his head. “You know that’s not an option.”
“I guess not.”
“She killed Tan. I’m not doing anything for her ever again. She can go to hell,” Roman spat through clenched teeth. “If hell would even let her in.”
“So kill Candle yourself.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I have some questions for him first. I want to know why Juliette was lying to us about Ashton Spencer working on a serum.”
Ruby’s brow creased. “Huh?”
“I talked to Spencer.”
“What did he say?”
“Not much. He shot himself.”
“But you believe he wasn’t creating a serum?”
“He was confused when I mentioned it. And Juliette basically confirmed it when I spoke to her. Whatever Spencer was doing for the ministry, that wasn’t it.”
Ruby sighed. “Fucking Juliette. We should have guessed she was lying. It’s just like her.”
“Yeah. It is.”
They fell into silence. Roman turned to the horizon, where the four Ministry towers stood, like four knives stuck into the ground. His jaw set, hands forming fists. This is Juliette’s fault, not mine, he told himself. She killed Tan, not me. I can’t sulk here, hating myself, while she goes back to hiding in her tower. A plan began to form in his head. He could make this right. He had to.
Ruby looked up at him. She smiled. “I know that face. You do have some insane plan, don’t you?”
Roman nodded slowly. “First, I’m going cut Candle until he tells me just what the hell Juliette is up to, and why Spencer really helped him escape.”
“And then?”
“I’m going to ask for his help.”
“With what?”
“Killing Juliette.” This was what he had to do. Roman was sure of it. “Something tells me he might share my feelings about her.”
Ruby laughed. Honest, genuine laughter. “I thought you would never change. But now you want to ask him for help, to fight Juliette. Are you sure?”
“She lied to me. She killed Tan. She’s a two-faced, lying, cowardly fucker who doesn’t deserve to rule this city. I’m going to throw her off the top of her stupid tower.”
“You’re not going to get to her without killing half the militia first.”
“I know.”
“You’ve always been the one telling us that we need the ministries to survive,” Ruby said. “Now you’re ready to fight them?”
“I don’t care. Not anymore. Maybe I never did.” Roman shrugged. “You were right about me. Juliette was right about me: I was never doing any of this to save Legacy. Not really. This was always about getting even.”
“That’s… honest.”
“I’m trying. Tan told me that I needed to be honest with myself, about who I am. Well, this is it. I’m not a hero, I’m not even a good man. I’m just an angry bastard who doesn’t like his friends being killed.”
“So you finally admit it.”
“I think I’ve always known.”
“Everyone else certainly has,” Ruby said. She ran a hand through her hair, stopping when it came to a handful of knots. She frowned. “You think Caleb will agree to all this?”
Roman nodded. “He’ll help because of Sparks.”
“Oh?”
“For reasons I can’t guess, Caleb seems to care about the boy,” Roman said. “So he’ll help because I’m not just going to kill Juliette —I’m going to rescue Sparks. He saved my life, so I’m going to save his. I won’t be in debt to an Adrenalite.”
Ruby grinned. “The kid actually grew on you too, didn’t he?”
“Hell no. I’m just not going to let him be the selfless hero. That’s my job.” Roman offered his hand to Ruby. “Are you coming with me?”
She grabbed his hand and he pulled her to her feet. She didn’t let go. “Always.”
Back inside, Roman explained his idea to Caleb, who listened while leaning against the wall, arms folded, expression blank. After Roman finished speaking, Caleb stared at the ground for a full minute, not saying a word, unticlass="underline" “I’m in.”
Roman let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Caleb. Seriously.”
“I have one condition.”
“You always do.”
“What do you plan to do with Sparks after you rescue him?”
“Do you want him?”
Caleb shook his head. “I want him to go free.”
“That’s—” Roman stopped himself before he could say impossible. In the end, there wasn’t any other option. “I accept.”
The barest hint of a smile touched Caleb’s face. “Maybe you aren’t a complete asshole then. Also, you owe me something.” Caleb held out his hand.
It took Roman a moment to remember the deal. He pulled his pistol out of his jacket and gave it to Caleb. Next, he took Spencer’s gun, removed three bullets from it, and handed them to Caleb as well.
Caleb grinned like a child with a new toy. “I always wanted myself one of these.”
“You earned it.” Roman turned towards Candle, but hesitated. “I have to know,” he said to Caleb, “why do you care about Sparks?”
“I told you — you wouldn’t understand.”
“Try me.”
Caleb shuffled his feet, looking away. “He’s a good kid.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s all I’m saying. But it’s not my motivations that are surprising. Why are you doing this? You’ve dedicated your life to capturing rogues, now you’re planning to free one.”
“I’ve gone mad, haven’t I?”
“You always have been.”
Roman sighed, shoving his hands into his pockets. “Maybe I was wrong. Maybe Adrenalites aren’t monsters. Not all of them, at least. Sparks wasn’t.”
Caleb nodded towards Candle. “What about him?”
“Let’s find out.” Roman kicked Candle in the gut, then again. “Wake up. You ugly piece of shit.”
Candle slowly opened his eye that wasn’t red and blistered. He looked up at Roman, then his gaze passed over the room, pausing on Ruby and Caleb in turn. “Where’s Juliette?”
“It’s not her you need to worry about.” Roman crouched in front of Candle, holding Spencer’s pistol — his pistol now. “It’s me.”
“You don’t scare me.”
“I’m hoping to fix that.”
Candle snarled. “You want a real fight? Put down the gun and let’s have a round.”
“We already did that. How’s your face feeling?”
Candle barred his teeth at Roman. “What do you want?”
“I want answers. What was Ashton Spencer working on for Juliette? And why did he help you escape the wind farms?”
“You’re trying to play ignorant with me? Is that how you ease your conscience?”
Roman paused. “What?”
“I’m not an idiot, Roman. And neither are you. We both know I’ve never been to the wind farms.”
Roman searched Candle’s face for a sign he was lying. He found nothing. “What are you talking about?”
Candle’s eyes narrowed. “Wait… you actually don’t know?”
“Know what?”
“You brought Juliette dozens of Adrenalites, and you never bothered to find out what she was doing with them?” Candle spat at Roman’s feet. “I guess it didn’t matter to you, as long as you got paid.”