Page 104 of Gunslinger Girl

DRAKOS-PRYCE ENDORSES DARK HORSE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE PATRICK SHERIDAN.

“Do you understand now?” Selene demanded.

“Yes,” Pity said quietly. This had nothing to do with Max. “Drakos-Pryce decided to back Sheridan. He doesn’t need you anymore.”

“Drakos-Pryce didn’t decide anything. They would never give away support like that for nothing. Sheridan must have been hedging his bets from the beginning, dealing with them behind my back.” Her expression darkened. “Drakos-Pryce would never suffer a president indebted to us, so they indebted him first. Either way Sheridan gets what he wants. The minute he’s elected they’ll probably have CONA’s forces on our doorstep, ready to reduce the city to ash.”

“He… wouldn’t…” She fixated on the broadcast again. Selene or Drakos-Pryce—if what he wanted was the presidency, what did it matter who handed it to him? Cold dread pierced her gut. Maybe Max had been right. What if Sheridan had told her only what he thought she wanted to hear?

No. Sheridan had been a Patriot once; he wouldn’t turn on the people he’d fought with. And he knew the city’s power. He wouldn’t want to see it destroyed. “But Drakos-Pryce could back whoever they wanted and still get rid of Cessation. Why Sheridan? It doesn’t need currency. What else does he have to offer?”

“That”—Selene signaled for Adora to turn off the broadcast—“is something I don’t know.”

For the first time since coming to Cessation, Pity heard real fear in Selene’s voice. Anxiety pricked at her temples. Selene’s confidence had always seemed adamant, unshakable. And yet, in one move, Sheridan and Drakos-Pryce had undone her.

“We can’t let him leave,” Selene continued. “Not yet. Your romance might have been an act, but he likes you. Trusts you. I need you to convince him to remain in the city while I figure this out.”

“How? Hold him at gunpoint?” Pity’s blood burned with frustration. “And if what you’re saying is true, what happens if Drakos-Pryce—or CONA—gets wind of that?”

Selene paced across the room, thinking. “You’re right. I may not be able to keep him here, but he’s president by my hand or not at all.” She stopped and turned back to Pity. “So you are going to leave with Sheridan. Once you’re in Columbia, find out how Drakos-Pryce got their claws into him. Then, when the opportunity presents itself, kill him.”

Pity sucked in a breath. “What?”

“Perhaps a lovers’ quarrel of some sort?” Adora offered.

“Yes,” said Selene. “That will be believable, given the circumstances, and won’t be blamed on Cessation. Yes, that will work.”

“No!” She stood. “I won’t do it.”

“It wasn’t a request.”

“I can’t.” The thought of putting Sheridan in her sights made her whole body clench. “He might have betrayed you, but he didn’t betray me. Find another way.”

Selene approached again. Her hand shot out, grabbing Pity by the chin. “He betrayed all of us.” Her voice was poison spread on silk. “Does he know about Max?”

Pity shook her head.

“Good. Then tell him whatever you have to—that you’re tired of the Theatre, that you’ve really fallen in love with him—I don’t care. Just make sure you are with him tomorrow when he goes. Or”—her grip tightened, fingers digging into flesh—“the next Finale will be yours to deal with.”

Pity’s gut clenched.

“And instead of Daneko, I’ll make Max its star.”

The air went out of her lungs. No. “But he hasn’t done anything wrong…”

“So?” Selene let her go. “Neither did the porter who hanged himself after Daneko tried to kill me. He wasn’t the one who helped the mercenaries into Casimir, but I knew word would get out, and a living, unidentified traitor is worse than a dead, known one.” An acid smile etched on her lips. “A piece of advice, Pity: Whatever your weaknesses are, don’t let them show. And if they do show, find a way to make them go away. As it will turn out, that poor boy’s death was a cover-up by the real conspirator: Max.”

“Max isn’t a traitor!”

“No, of course he’s not,” said Selene. “But if I put him in that arena and say he is, who is going to question it?”

Pity’s hands dropped to her sides, but found only air instead of steel. “You wouldn’t.”

“Do what you’re told and you won’t have to find out. And if you think you can get to Max first, forget about it. He’s already in the tombs, where he’ll stay until I’m sure Sheridan isn’t a problem anymore.”

Pity gritted her teeth, her whole body petrified by anger. “How can you do this? I did everything you asked. I helped save your life!”

Selene turned away. “My life is only worth something in Cessation. And if the city isn’t safe, none of us are.”