“Live a little longer, Red,” Aramin mutters at me, “and you won’t hesitate so long.” He grabs the dagger from Danna’s chest and wipes it against the dead soldier’s clothes, then tucks it securely at his own belt. “Better they find him with a stab wound than a cut from a steel wing, anyway. No one needs to know you’re in the city.”

I nod silently, but all I can hear is the roar of my own heartbeat in my ears. All I can see is Danna’s vacant gaze, frozen in fear. All I feel is the shame that I couldn’t do it, that Aramin had to do it for me.

No time for regrets here. No time to mourn.

So I tear my eyes away from the lifeless face of my former comrade and hurry down the hall with the Strikers.

28

TALIN

The first thing I hear the next day is that General Caitoman has ordered a complete rotation of the Premier’s personal guard. Every soldier is to be replaced.

The second thing I hear is that they’ve identified the would-be assassin. She turned out to be Maran, a prisoner working on the mayor’s estate. Someone who lost her entire family during the Federation’s final push over our warfront. She had gotten her hands on some ill-fitting Karensan military gear and made it as far as the dance ring before firing her shots toward the Premier.

“She was never a part of our plans,” Mayor Elland snaps as she paces the lab complex’s panic room in the early morning. Raina and I sit watching her. I am supposedly getting enhancements done here, but instead I continue to take a liquid that will chip away at my link with the Premier. The mayor folds her arms across her chest and turns back to us, her brows furrowed. “That girl’s going to force heightened security around the Premier.”

Raina shakes her head. “We can work around it. It’s a good thing she isn’t connected officially to the rebellion. Constantine won’t tie her back to us.”

“Won’t he?” The mayor sits down beside us with a frustrated flourish. She points a finger down on the table. “That girl worked on my estate. Because of her, I’m going to have to allow a full investigation of everyone in my employment. Constantine will expect to see some executions. She will cost several lives by the time we’re through.”

“And what did we expect?” Raina snaps, her usual anxiety giving way to anger. “This isn’t a game. The entire city is ripe for chaos—all the work done by the official rebellion to stir up unrest among the people was bound to result in several taking things into their own hands. We can’t control everyone. This is a good sign. We’ve lit sparks in others outside of our movement.”

The mayor tightens her lips. “Are you so careless with the lives of those in our rebellion, Raina? Do you not worry that General Caitoman’s prying eyes might ultimately land on us as they investigate?”