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ELEVEN

GIDEON

GIDEON SHARPE

THE LARK it would prove Gideon was no longer in Rune’s thrall.

He wanted to tell Harrow about Cressida’s plot to resurrect her sisters but didn’t want the information falling into the wrong hands. So, he sent a vague reply.

SPYMASTER

OFFICE OF THE GOOD COMMANDER

NEW INFORMATION HAS COME TO LIGHT. THE REPUBLIC IS IN GREATER DANGER THAN WE IMAGINED. WILL FILL YOU IN WHEN I RETURN.

GIDEON

Within the hour, Harrow sent a telegram back:

GIDEON SHARPE

THE LARK she was powerful and cruel. But compared to Elowyn and Analise, she was a novice.

Gideon was seeing this job through to the end. There could be no hesitating this time.

He would find Rune, and he would kill her.

And if a small voice inside him objected, it was only because Gideon was still compromised. Still weakened by her. If he thought about how Rune risked herself tonight to help him, he would waver.

Gideon couldn’t waver.

If he did, Cressida would rise to power. She’d resurrect her sisters. And together they would destroy the New Republic and usher in a new reign of terror, this one far worse than the last.

Gideon had no choice. Killing Rune was the only way to stop that from happening.

If it broke him, so be it.