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“Turn around.”

Darien shifted on the seat so his back was facing Finn. Keys jingled as Finn unlocked the cuffs.

“Turn back around,” Finn said. Darien did. Finn cuffed his hands again, in front of him this time instead of behind his back. “This’ll make it more comfortable for you.”

Darien smirked. “How very kind of you.”

The sound of boots clicking on pavement rose above the din of the crowds and the roaring of the fire consuming what was left of Blackbird.

“Wait!” Ivy’s voice floated through the night. “Finn, wait.”

Finn paused, hand poised to shut the door.

Ivy lurched to a stop near the car. Looked Darien in the eyes. “Mom loved you,” she panted. “She loved you, Darien. No building is ever going to take that away. Do you understand me?”

He had no words, so he said nothing. He was empty inside, and he couldn’t remember how to breathe.

“She loved you,” Ivy said again. “Blackbird was just a building.” But even as she said it, her eyes filled with fresh tears, and her mouth wobbled. She flattened her right hand over her heart. “Mom’s in here. She’s not in there.” She waved that hand at the burning building. Choked down a sob. Faced him again. Whispered, “She never was.”

Finn stepped between them. “We have to go.”

Ivy backed up. “Will you make sure he’s okay?”

“I’ll take care of this.”

The door slammed shut, separating him from his sister. When Finn made for the driver’s-side door, Darien met Ivy’s pained gaze through the glass, distorted by a layer of condensation and frost that had yet to melt.

“I love you,” she mouthed.

Darien watched her face—ghostly pale and lined with defeat, her cheeks streaked with tears—through the foggy window.

This was just like the night when his mom died. When officers had arrived on the scene, they’d found two teenaged kids standing horrified on the sidewalk, one of those kids suffering from a Surge, his screams more animal than hellseher. They’d needed to pry his fingers off his mother’s lifeless body.

He’d fought them. He’d fought hard. But in the end, the officers had won. After loading him into a police cruiser, they had taken him somewhere safe, a place where he couldn’t hurt anyone, his Surge rendering him unpredictable. Violent. A potential threat. He’d watched Ivy back then too, until distance had swallowed her up.

And he watched her now, just as he had back then.

Until distance swallowed her up.

—

“We’ll find out who did this.” Finn’s voice cut through the quiet of the sedan as he drove through the Financial District, toward the precinct.

Where he sat in the back of the car, legs spread, one foot behind each of the front seats, Darien’s mouth twitched with a humorless smile. “You won’t find out a goddamn thing.”

Finn kept his eyes on the road, red and blue lights oscillating across the pavement.

The night was almost over, but Darien was far from relieved. His night was still going, the promise of dawn swallowed up.

It wasn’t coming. No light was coming.

“I wanted to apologize,” Finn began. “I know I lied. I know it was wrong. But I didn’t know how else to get your help. I wanted revenge. I failed to protect my son—failed to protect all those kids. Lost my wife because of it. Nearly lost my job.” Finn shook his head in disgust. “I didn’t know how else to deal with the nightmare my life had become.”

“Nightmare,” Darien scoffed. “I’m not one to compare scars, Finn.” He turned his head to look out the window at the palm trees and buildings zipping by. “But you have no idea what a nightmare is.”

Silence. And then Finn said, “One day, when you’re a father, you might understand why I did it.”

“I’ll never be a father.” No, he would never be a father. His one shot at that elusive future was currently fighting for her life in a hospital bed after being dealt a hand of cards she didn’t deserve.