Shards of Hope (Psy-Changeling 14)

Leaving him in the stolen city truck, the other party got out on sneakered feet. It took three minutes to walk to a well-trafficked part of the park and blend into a group of youths who eventually flowed out onto the streets. A pity to discard the Arrow but he’d proven himself an unstable threat; with him dead, there was no risk of premature exposure.

The next stage of the plan could be put safely into operation.

Chapter 70

WHEN AMIN CALLED in the discovery of Blake’s body, Aden went to collect it himself. The cause of death was simple enough to determine, as was the fact that he’d been murdered.

“No surveillance feeds anywhere in the vicinity,” Amin told him, and though his dark face was impassive, Aden could guess at his frustration. “I have him two blocks from this location, but no glimpse of any other viable suspect.”

Leaving a team behind to go back over Blake’s entire trail in case he’d left behind a fail-safe data cache, Aden took Blake home, and that night, he was laid to rest in the simple graveyard situated at the foot of the mountains on one end of the valley.

“When Blake did what he did,” Aden said, “he surrendered his status as an Arrow. Many of you have asked me why I brought him back.” He looked around at his gathered brethren, Zaira’s hand tight around his. She, too, had asked, and when he’d told her why, she’d nodded in solemn acceptance.

“He is here because, for all his mistakes and the horrific acts he perpetrated, he was family,” Aden told the others now. “Just because he went rogue and we had to hunt him with a view to execution doesn’t mean he was excised from the family. He was no longer an Arrow, but he remained part of us.” Those words, he spoke for all the Arrows around them, young and old. Every child from age thirteen onward was present.

It was important they understand that this family was forever.

Even Beatrice had chosen to attend. Zaira had spoken to the girl ahead of time and her other hand was currently linked with Beatrice’s. She’s fine, Zaira told him when he touched her mind with the question. Your words mean more to her than what Blake did. She’s been hurt before, but she’s never been certain of belonging anywhere.

That was exactly why Aden was doing this, not just for Beatrice, but for all his people. Squeezing Zaira’s hand, he continued to speak. “We can abhor the actions Blake took without cutting him from the family tree,” he said, wanting to make sure no one had any doubts about the point he was making on this dark night veiled with starlight, the mountains shadowy sentinels around them.

“We can consider him a murderous threat to society and a traitor to the oaths that bind us together as Arrows, without attempting to erase the fact that he was one of us. He wasn’t a good man but he was an Arrow. He watched my back and yours for many years.” Blake hadn’t been all evil all the time. “We do not erase those who were our own. We do not forget. He existed. For better or worse, he was one of us.”

Stepping back, he watched as the memorial was put in place, Blake’s ashes buried in a biodegradable container that meant he would eventually become part of the earth. The small memorial set into the ground with his name on it would remain, however, and it would be kept clean and free of debris by a rotation of Arrows and older trainees.

For many years, there had been no memorials, Arrows passing and gone without leaving a sign. Aden had begun the memorials behind Ming’s back. The day he’d finally ousted the other man, he’d ordered a larger memorial that listed the names of all the Arrows who had come and gone from the formation of the squad, starting with Zaid Adelaja.

Each had existed. Each had a claim to the family of Arrows.

Warm, strong fingers flexed against his palm, curled even tighter around it. He let Zaira’s fire warm him as they committed Blake’s soul to whatever lay beyond.

•   •   •

WITH Blake dead, and his incipient reign of terror ended, the squad and Aden had one less thing on their plates, but that didn’t mean much.

“Olivia tried so hard,” Zaira told him that night as they got ready to catch the five hours of sleep that was the minimum on which they could function at full capacity. “I could see her trying to squeeze her memories dry. She even offered to let me smash her shields even though it might cause permanent brain damage or death.”

Zaira rubbed her face. “She was hysterical by the time we finally left.” Eyes bleak, she put her head against Aden’s shoulder. “Vasic ’ported to every location he could think of from Olivia’s scattered memories, but she didn’t see anything specific enough.” Her arms slid around his rib cage, her hands closing over his shoulders from the back as she held on to him. “If we don’t find Persephone, I think Olivia will find a way to commit suicide.”

Aden wanted to promise her it wouldn’t come to that, but they’d both seen too much evil to believe in fairy tales. “We’re fighting for Persephone,” he said instead. “And if her mother, drug addicted and abused, is strong enough to retain some memories, then the child will also be strong.”

Zaira nodded. “I just hope we make it in time.”

They fell asleep tangled in one another and woke to their duties.

First, the technical specifics of Blake’s death remained under investigation—the neurotoxin had been quickly identified, but, while not common, it was readily enough available that no one supplier could be pinpointed.

“Given Blake’s disruptive activities and mode of death,” Aden said to Vasic that afternoon, “it’s possible he was either inadvertently or consciously working for the people who’ve been trying to undermine the squad. The fact that it’s highly likely he caused Jim Savua’s death further ties it all together into a single conspiracy.”