Well… fuck.
The militia grinned, striding towards her. He raised his machete. Ruby didn’t bother trying to crawl away. She wouldn’t die like that. She would die facing her killer, scowling at them with all the defiance she had.
Don’t let them see your fear. If you show it, then you’ll never stop yourself feeling it. I won’t die afraid.
A gunshot.
The militia fell with a bullet hole between the eyes.
Stunned, Ruby turned to see Roman climb out of the elevator, a smoking pistol in his hand. He had cuts running down his chest and arm, and he looked exhausted as all hell, but he was alive. His eyes locked onto Ruby’s. “You promised that—”
“Oh shut up.” Ruby broke into a smile. She let the crossbow drop as she lay down, both too exhausted and too flooded with relief to stay upright. “You saved me.”
“It was my turn.”
“This doesn’t make us even.” Despite everything, Ruby found herself laughing. “You’ve still got a lot of catching up to do.”
Roman knelt beside her. He gasped when he noticed her arm. “How—”
“It’s a long story. Did you kill Juliette? Is Sparks okay?”
He nodded.
Ruby smiled. “We did it. We actually did it.”
“Yeah. I guess we did. Now let’s get out of here.”
Ruby’s smiled vanished. “Um… about that. There’s one last problem.”
Roman glanced towards the doors, catching her meaning. He shrugged. “I’ve dealt with enough shit today. I think I’ll leave this to our new friends.”
“Friends…?” Ruby craned her head to look past Roman, towards the elevator shaft. An Adrenalite stepped out, glowing blue, she didn’t recognize him. Then another appeared. In total, five exited before Candle did. He glanced at her, offering a quick nod of his head. She returned the gesture.
Sparks came last. The boy looked even worse than she felt. One hand clutched at his stomach, which was covered in blood. But he took one look at Ruby and grinned. “Did you miss me?”
Ruby’s heart sank. Caleb. I’m going to have to tell Sparks that he’s dead. But… not right now. “Maybe a little, I guess,” she said with as much of a smile as she could manage.
Candle led the Adrenalites, excluding Sparks, out of the Ministry. Ruby heard them shout as they charged across the square, followed by screaming from the remaining militia. She knew how one-sided that fight would be.
Roman hadn’t taken his eyes from her. He wiped the blood off his hands and reached down, gingerly running his hand down her side, where her clothes were ripped and torn from her fall. His face filled when relief when he didn’t find any more serious wounds.
“I’m… I’m glad you’re alive,” he said.
“Of course I’m alive. If I died, who would be left to tell you that you’re an idiot?”
“When I came up and saw you…” he trailed off, his eyes going distant. After a moment he seemed to remember where he was. “I saw you, about to be killed, and you didn’t even look concerned. Weren’t you afraid?”
“I’m never—” Ruby stopped herself before she could say afraid.
Don’t let him see your fear. If you show it, you’ll never stop yourself feeling it.
Oh, to hell with that.
“Of course, you idiot,” she said, moving her head to rest against him. “I was fucking terrified.”
46
Sparks found Caleb’s body. Ruby had told him what he was going to find, but he hadn’t believed her, not really. Even now, standing over Caleb, he could barely believe it.
Four arrows. That was what it had taken to kill him. Sparks felt a brief surge of pride for his ex-owner. He had been strong — a good fighter, and that was important. That meant something.
But he was more than a good fighter. He was a good owner. And a good friend.
Sparks knelt, not caring about the blood that soaked his knees. “I’m sorry,” he said softly. “This is my fault. I shouldn’t have gone rogue.”
Caleb, of course, didn’t respond.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t believe you,” Sparks continued. His throat felt tight. “I thought all you cared about was money. But you came here for me. And you died. For me.”
Sparks took Caleb’s hand in his, and cried.
It was strange. He had seen so many people die, most of them he had killed himself, but he had never shed a tear for any of them. Caleb was different. Sparks knelt there, crying until the tears wouldn’t come anymore — even though he wanted them to never stop. After that, he continued to kneel beside his friend. It felt wrong to leave. As if by staying there, Sparks could keep Caleb alive, in some small way. But Caleb was dead. He wasn’t going anywhere. Sparks had to be the one to leave.
He stood up, wiped his eyes, unsure what he was meant to do now. Roman had told him he was free, but Sparks didn’t know what free people did. There was nobody left to fight, and what was the point of being the best fighter in Legacy without anyone to fight.
He looked across Reformation Square. Roman and Ruby were sitting at the far corner. He saved me, Sparks thought as he looked at Roman. He could have let Juliette shoot me, but he didn’t.
Maybe he’s not an asshole.
Well, not a complete asshole, at least.
Sparks turned to the Security Ministry and saw what Candle and his men were doing there. He smiled. He still had no idea what he was going to do from now on, but that seemed like a damn good place to start.
“Are you ready?” Roman asked.
Ruby had an arrow in her mouth, biting down on it as she nodded.
She was lying on her back. Roman knelt over her, holding down her bicep with his knee, and her broken arm in both of his. He had made a makeshift splint from a broken desk leg and a quarrel, lashing them together with a length of the rope Ruby had used to climb from the window with earlier.
Ruby grunted a dozen curses as Roman forced her shattered bone back into place and secured it with the splint. When he was finished, he put his hand on her shoulder while her breath came in staggered bursts and her face was screwed up in pain. He felt helpless, frustrated at not being able to help more. He took the time to glance at his own wounds. Fortunately, none were too deep. He had been lucky. Damn lucky.
Eventually, Ruby calmed down. She took the arrow from her mouth and sat on the lip of the sidewalk beside Roman. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I won’t be much use as an archer anymore.”
“That’s okay. I’ve already decided to kick you out of my team anyway.”
“What?”
Roman grinned. “Well, you did kinda break your promise, remember? You weren’t meant to follow me into the Ministry. I can’t keep you if I can’t trust you.”
“Whatever.” She nudged him playfully with her good shoulder. “You can’t kick me out, you’ve no one else left. Besides, you work for me, remember?”
“I distinctly recall it being the other way around.”
“Don’t be so naive.”
They fell in a comfortable silence while they watched six glowing blue figures scale the Security Ministry. The Adrenalites climbed between the windows. One by one, they tore off the steel beams supporting the Ministry’s walls and cast them to the ground.
Roman thought about asking them to stop. Not because of the Adrenalites still underground, but because of all the resources still inside, especially the books. But he decided that, right at this moment, he didn’t really give a damn.