“Glory shouldn’t have to come at the expense of so many others,” Caledonia said.

“That is the only way.” Remi laughed. “Sacrifice is the truest kind of glory. To give yourself, your life in the service of someone so much greater than you, is glorious.”

The thought sent a chill down Caledonia’s spine. How had Aric—and now Lir—convinced so many people that killing and dying for them was the truest form of anything? But she knew the answer. Silt, food, power. Aric had figured out what people needed and then he learned how to control it. Lir had learned from him and decided he could do it better.

Somehow, some part of Remi had resisted that power. Enough to choose to follow Caledonia to Cloudbreak where she knew this would be her future. The question now was whether or not she would keep making that choice now that she’d experienced the reality. In some ways it would be easier to do as Pine suggested and keep every Bullet they collected under lock and key until the fight was over. But as dangerous as it was to extend trust to a former Bullet, it was the only way to truly win in the end.

“I won’t let you die for him, Remi,” Caledonia said. “I want you to stay here. I want you to get strong again and make your own choices. As soon as you’re healthy, you can do just that: choose.”

Remi’s eyes watered as she watched Caledonia with a kind of agony. Her brow creased and her lips quivered as if something she needed were just out of reach. She drew a shuddering breath and said, “I don’t want your mercy, Caledonia Styx.”

“You have it, regardless.”

This time Remi’s laughter was disbelieving. “Why?”

Caledonia’s answer came without a breath of hesitation. “Because mercy is what is left when glory fails us.”

For a second, Remi only watched Caledonia with her mouth partly open, as if she couldn’t make those words make sense in her own mind. Then she began to laugh. It started in her throat and bubbled up until there were tears streaming out of her bleary eyes.

“Mercy.” She pushed the word out between spurts of laughter. “Mercy, mercy, mercy. You want to fight this fight with mercy? Caledonia, I think I overestimated you. Maybe Lir has, too.”

On the other side of the door, Sledge made a low sound in his throat. The conversation Caledonia had intended to have with Remi was no longer the one she needed to have. Dismissing everything else she’d come to say, she settled on a new approach.

“I have one question for you, Remi.”