Caledonia reached out, slipping her hand into Sledge’s and squeezing tightly. She wanted to be sure their people had survived, but the truth was, they’d lost two of those towers. All of their people might have died in that attack, and they had more to deal with before they found out for certain.

Soon, Pisces and half the crew of the Luminous Wake appeared on the road, guiding a group of curious Bullets toward the prison doors. They laid Tassos out on a white cloth, the empty gun against his chest, hands down by his sides, then Caledonia and Cepheus stood where every Bullet would have to pass as they were brought to the prison. There would be no doubt that Caledonia had been the one to kill him, that Caledonia was now the one in power.

Caledonia’s blood pounded in her ears, and she resisted the urge to draw her weapon as the first band of Bullets approached. Her own crew had them surrounded, waiting for the moment this went very wrong.

But the moment never came.

The second the Bullets spotted their former Fiveson, something shifted in them. They dimmed, if that was possible, the fight in their faces going momentarily slack as they searched for their new leader. They found their answer in Caledonia’s bloodied hand. Some were surprised, others not so much, but one look at Cepheus standing at her side and they all shuffled into the prison without protest.

It went on this way for hours. Every new wave of Bullets that passed bore the same signs of strain. Their eyes were red-rimmed, their expressions wary or too alert. They traveled together, but each one held themselves apart from the others as though the lightest touch might ignite them to violence or destroy them completely. Caledonia had never seen so many Bullets this close to breaking, and the sight was as dispiriting as it was unsettling.

She’d once asked Pine how he came back from being a Bullet. His response threaded her thoughts now as she watched people as young as Nettle and as old as Heron march past her with shades of horror in their eyes.

“We didn’t come back from being Bullets,” he’d said. “We just got out of the chamber.”

All at once the day was gone. The clouds turned into pale smudges against a shadowed sky, and Caledonia felt bruises leaching so far down into her bones she was surprised there was anything left to hold her upright. Pain pierced her ribs with every breath, and her head throbbed in time with her pulse.

The last clip to move was that of the Deep Cut. As they marched past one by one, her eyes caught on a familiar face.

“Donnally.” Her voice came out in a rough whisper. Only loud enough for Cepheus to hear.

“Tassos thought he might be useful,” she explained. “If he decided Lir looked like a better bet than you.”