Before he could formulate a reasonable reply, Scarlett spoke up. “Memory wipe. It’s what I do. One of the things I do. I get rid of the troublesome knowledge in your noggin and the problem goes away.” She snapped her fingers. “Poof.”
Realization dawned on Marley’s face as she stared at Scarlett. “You’re one of them.”
“Marley, I can explain.”
Ian watched her trust shatter. That instant jolt of emotion broke his control. Tendrils of power shot out, tugged at that thread of fear, and amped it.
Fuck.
He reeled it back in, fisting his hands to keep from reaching for her, but the damage was done. She bolted.
“Wait!” he shouted, still trying to lock away the hunger. She was already halfway to the door by the time he managed to scramble after her.
“Got this,” said Scarlett. And she sang. The tone rang out, filling the ballroom with all the power of an aria’s heartbreaking crescendo.
Marley’s body jerked to a halt, an insect caught in honey. Her limbs continued to slowly flail as she fought to free herself from the siren’s song.
“Stop! Scarlett, stop!” Ian made it across the space in time to catch Marley as the echoes of Scarlett’s voice faded. “Marley, just listen.”
She fought him, bucking and kicking in his grasp until he was forced to tighten his grip, pressing her so close to his own body, she couldn’t move. Had he done any permanent damage? Ian ran a quick check of her vitals. Elevated heart-rate, consistent with the fight or flight response, but nothing out of the ordinary. Ruthless, he shut down his body’s response to her fear and gritted out, “Listen.”
“Give me one good reason why I should,” she said.
“Because I’m trying to help you.”
“By turning me over to one of them?”
“Whoa now, I am not allied with the Council,” Scarlett protested.
Ian knew that wasn’t what Marley meant. “I told you that most Mirus are just like anybody else. They don’t agree with the Council’s laws. Some of them help to circumvent those laws. Scarlett is one of those people. Helping people is what she does.”
“Fucking with my head is not on my list of acceptable alternatives,” Marley snarled.
“There’s no other option. You’ve been awake for days. You will crash soon, and you will dream. And they’ll find you. The only way to ensure your safety is to remove the memory.”
She closed her eyes, still vibrating with frustration.
Ian looked to Scarlett. “Let’s get this over with.”
The Fixer frowned. “I’m not okay with doing this against her will, Ian.”
“If you don’t, she’s going to die,” he said. “As long as the knowledge is in her head, the Dream Walkers can find her. She’ll never be safe. You’ve seen it before. You know I’m right.”
She shifted her attention to Marley, sympathy in every line of her face. “This isn’t meant to hurt you. It’s this or be hunted for the rest of your life. And I can promise, with one of the Council’s assassins, that won’t be long.”
“People make all kinds of justifications for taking away choices,” Marley spat. Rage seethed around her, a miasma of red, shot through with veins of gunmetal gray betrayal.
Hunger beat in his blood, desperate, starving.
Scarlett looked at Ian again. One last chance.
“Do it.”
“How long?” she asked.
It took a moment to figure out how many days they’d been on the run. Added one for good measure. “Six days.”
Scarlett nodded and moved over to Marley, who stared daggers at them both, muscles tensed to flee at the earliest opportunity.