Page 51 of Forged in Fire

The finality in his voice makes it clear the topic is closed. But the knowledge sits between us now like a wall I’m not sure I can climb over. He kills people for money. Takes contracts from anonymous clients and eliminates their problems without question.

“So who decides who gets to live or die?” I ask bluntly. Because how else do you address such things?

“The Guild I work for takes on contracts,” he says. “We never know who the clients are. Anonymous payments, encrypted communications. It’s designed to prevent personal complications.”

“Personal complications?”

“Like this.” He gestures between us. “Like caring about the target.”

The casual way he says it makes my breath catch. “And you don’t? Care, I mean?”

Something flickers across his face—too quick to identify. “I used to think that caring would make me less effective.”

“Used to?”

“Things change.”

The admission hangs in the air between us, raw and honest. I’m tempted to press for more, but I’m not sure how.

“Your turn,” he says, breaking the moment before it can become too heavy. “How did you get mixed up in this?”

I take a breath, trying to figure out where to start. “Three years ago, the Syndicate raided our community. They took my brother, along with several others. I’ve been hunting for him ever since.”

“And you tracked him to that compound?”

“Intelligence suggested Kieran was being held there. I went in to save him.” The memory of those final moments—Kieran’s impersonal voice, the way he’d looked at me like a stranger—makes my chest tight. “Obviously, that didn’t go according to plan.”

“You went in alone?”

“I work better alone.”

“Clearly.”

The dry comment makes me bristle. “I would have succeeded if—”

“If your brother hadn’t been compromised,” he says. “If he hadn’t led you into a trap.”

Put like that, it sounds suicidal. Which, honestly, it probably was.

“Why?” Riven asks quietly. “Why risk everything for one person?”

“Because he’s my brother.” The words come out fierce. “Because I don’t abandon the people I love.”

“Even when they abandon you?”

The question sucks the air from my lungs. For a moment, I can’t breathe around the pain of it.

“He didn’t abandon me,” I say finally, choked. “He was conditioned. Programmed. Whatever they did to him, that wasn’t choice.”

“And if you’re wrong?”

“Then I’ll deal with it when we find him,” I say. “But I won’t give up on him.”

Riven nods slowly, like he understands something about loyalty and impossible choices. “Fair enough.” He takes in a breath and then opens his mouth, as if to say something. Then closes it again.

“What?” I ask, expecting him to say something about how stupid I am.

“Why did you let me fly with you?” he asks. “What made you change your mind when we left the mountains? After I got you to the cabin, I was pretty sure that…”