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She leans across his desk. “Beaulah Perl offered my mother safe haven, too. Then she fed her to her dogs. Either get on board or get out of my way.”

The air in the room drops to a chill.

Beaulah killed her mother.

A hurricane of my own feelings blows through me. My gaze hits the floor.

The Dragunhead’s glassy stare moves beyond our conversation. “That is grave news, Miss Marionne.” The warring emotions burning through her finally make sense.

The Dragunhead’s attention is still somewhere else.

“Sir, Beaulah is the greatest living threat to this Order,” I say. He lets out a giant sigh. “The fact of it is, I cannot track the Sphere quickly without the help of a Darkbearer.” I can’t believe my ears. “She is the only one of them I trust.”

“And what sort of guarantees are you expecting for Quell after she’s done what you asked?”

Quell’s heart rams in her chest and I feel it like a dagger in mine. Despite her tragedy, she is still wrong for binding to toushana and defying the rules of this Order.

“What you do with her afterward is not my concern. You’re a fair judge.”

Her heart hammers harder. I avoid her gaze.

After a long silence, he says, “I can see how this could be an opportunity, Quell, to use all that dark power to accomplish something helpful. But I can’t give you that chance. I’m sorry.”

“Sir!”

“Enough!” The vein at his jaw pulses. “There are cells full of safe house inhabitants waiting for burning. Any number of them could have the poison in their veins! Why do you insist on working with her?”

His question unsteadies me. “Beaulah killed her mother. And that’s good fuel.”

“Judging by your reaction, you just learned that.”

I swallow.

“Maei,” he says in a raised voice, and the door to his office opens. “Lock down Headquarters, all exits and entrances sealed, until Mr. Wexton and I finish this meeting.”

My heart skips a beat.

“Take Miss Marionne to the waiting area, please. If she gives you a hard time, do whatever you need to have her restrained.”

Quell rises, seething. I take advantage of the moment to hold the door open for them. “I’m going to fix this,” I whisper to her. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

“I trusted you.”

“Trust me now. We are walking out of here together.”

Worry knots through her, and it feels like a thick chain linking together in my chest. I close the door behind Maei and Quell. The Dragunhead lights a cigar and paces, his skin still flushed. “I lost my temper with you. I apologize.”

“I brought you an impossible request. But it’s our only hope of saving this Order. If she dies now, we are at a loss.” The words are bitter. “We need her. Just for a time.”

His back is still to me when he says, “I can’t go along with something like this in front of her or anyone.”

I cease breathing.

“I’m having a guards’ meeting tonight, on the hour of the shift change. The cells will be unguarded and your brother’s might malfunction. And, son, you have a weakness for her.” He takes a long pull of his cigar. He cups my shoulder. “Destroy it or she will destroy you.”

I open my mouth to respond, but think better of it. I thank him again and exit the office. I have it in hand. Quell is a means to an end. Someone I will use. The way she used me. The crowd in Headquarters has thinned. The red light glaring above the doors flickers out, signaling the lockdown is over. I find Quell flipping through the file folder on Francis’s grandfather along with Maei’s notes on the Sphere.

Her mother is dead.