As Zinne comes around the craft and opens the door, I get a glimpse of the long, flat metal building outside. I recognize the place—North Levian Containment Facility, a low-security prison in the rolling hills outside the city. Most commonly used to temporarily hold prisoners before they’re either set free, moved somewhere more secure, or executed. I can guess which one they have in mind for me.

When Zinne reaches inside, I squirm away as best as I can in handcuffs, and look toward Shey in the front. The president’s daughter is sitting with her spine ramrod straight and her eyes forward, ignoring our scuffle.

“Shey,” I say, shouting to be heard above the howling winds outside. “Hey. Look at me. Are you gonna let this happen?”

Zinne curses as she tries to get a good hold on me, thwarted time and time again by my kicking feet and pointy elbows, growing only more slippery as rain splashes into the hovercraft. It gives me a few more seconds to try plucking Shey’s heartstrings. There’s no way she doesn’t feel a little bit guilty about this. I’ve seen the way she looks at me; it can’t all be fake.

“C’mon, Shey! Look at me! We’re friends, yeah? You’re not gonna let them kill me.” The words come out confidently, but Shey doesn’t react. My stomach sinks. “You’re not gonna let them kill me,” I say again, softer this time, almost pleading. “Right?”

Finally, Shey turns. Her eyes are red and her face drawn amid the mass of her thick hair. But damn, even with death looming in front of me, the lady is gorgeous.

“I’m sorry,” she says. She reaches back and places a hand on my arm, giving it a gentle squeeze. The light touch makes my heart soar for a moment—then crash as she pulls back her hand and lowers her eyes. “There’s nothing I can do. Goodbye, Scorpia.”

With one final tug, Zinne yanks me away from my last hope and toward the prison where they’ll decide my fate.

Zinne leaves me in a corner cell. The room is shut off from the rest of the prison by a thick metal door, its surface broken only by a tiny one-way slot for food and water. The walls facing the outside hold huge windows, high enough that they’re impossible to reach with my hands cuffed, bars thick enough that I couldn’t get through them even if I could reach. I have to stand near the door to avoid the rain leaking through.