Page 105 of Gunslinger Girl

“But… but…” Pity grasped for something, anything. “You said that Casimir is a family! Max is family!”

“He is,” said Selene, “but this family is big. And I’ll do what I need to in order to protect it, including making sacrifices. Now go. And if you need inspiration to do whatever it is you need to do with Sheridan, just picture Max”—she glanced back over her shoulder at Pity—“in the spotlight, and how those soulful gray eyes will look the moment before you pull the trigger.”

The moment the Tin Men gave her back her guns, Pity ran through the halls, not caring who saw, to the nearest stairwell. Then it was down, down, almost tripping over her own feet, until she reached the tunnels. For a brief moment she had no idea where she was. The same dingy pipes and concrete branched out in every direction. She picked a tunnel and began running again, taking corner after corner until, miraculously, some part of her brain forced her in the right direction.

His door was a gaping mouth, wide-open.

“Max!” She ran inside.

He wasn’t there. The lights were on, the bed its usual tangle of blankets. In the center of the floor lay a fold of orange paper, debris incongruous in an otherwise empty landscape of concrete.

As if it had been dropped in surprise.

Trembling, she picked it up. It was nearly identical to the one Luster had delivered to her, a request from Halcyon to report early the next morning, to make last-minute alterations on some sets.

She crumpled the paper in her fist. Other places Max might be crackled through her mind—the theatre, Eden. But she knew exactly what had happened to him.

Selene didn’t make empty threats.

Pity collapsed onto Max’s bed, swallowing a scream. Hot tears ignited as his scent filled the air around her. She wiped at them angrily.

I did everything. The words kept beating through her head. I did everything I was asked.

Regret diffused through her. If only she’d never gone to Max, confessed the deal she’d made. He might be gone, but he’d be safe. Instead, she’d crossed Selene, and Max stood to pay the price.

I won’t do it. Nothing in the world would make her hurt him. But even as she had the thought, she knew it didn’t matter. If Selene forced them both into the arena, only one would walk out, or neither. And no one would intervene—not Halcyon, not the other performers, maybe not even their friends. After all, Beeks had been part of their family, too, and there had been no objections to his death.

Only cheers.

What do I do?

Every minute that ticked by was one less to find a solution to her grim predicament. But no matter which way she turned the situation, looking for a crack, for a way out, she found nothing. No one would defy Selene to help Pity, and if Sheridan departed Cessation, so would any chance she had to save Max.

There was no choice—she needed to go with him.

CHAPTER 35

Evening fell like the lights in the theatre, as if the world was setting the stage for her performance. Downstairs, the Gallery was beginning its nightly upswing of debauchery, but outside the door of Sheridan’s suite, it was quiet. Pity heard a ghost or two of movement, a muffled voice, but nothing more. She stared at the number on the door, hands at her sides, where her guns should’ve been. For once she was glad for their absence. Even if she succeeded in convincing Sheridan to take her along, she couldn’t fathom the thought of murdering him.

It felt like an hour passed before she found the strength to knock.

Hook’s massive form filled the portal. “What do you want?”

“Is Patrick in?”

Her voice dripped with honey, but he gazed down at her as if she were a bug that had flown into his drink. “No.”

Pity smiled wider, praying the dread didn’t show in her eyes. “Can you check again? I really need to talk to him.”

“I said—”

“Let her in.” Sheridan’s voice came from within.

Hook moved aside. In the suite, suitcases and trunks were piled near the door. Pity felt her smile crack. He really was leaving.

“Pity.” Sheridan sat in an overstuffed chair, a drink in one hand, shirt open at the collar. “I didn’t expect to see you.”

She glanced at the baggage. “I heard you were leaving.”