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MARA

T he office was exactly as I remembered it that day.

The massive window that consumed most of the wall was directly across from the door with heavy red fabrics drawn back, framing the early light of dawn as though the window were a frame.

To the right, a massive fireplace, much like the one in the library, burned greedy flames that delivered waves of heat as they crackled and snapped in the chilly air.

The white marbled lions of the Telvian crest stood as sentinels on either side of it, facing the room with a judgmental glare.

White walls mocked purity of thought.

Gilded accents lorded riches illegitimately earned.

And the ornately carved desk of cherry wood declared prestige for a man who stole it.

My father remained seated in his plush, dark brown chair of pleather between me and the window, staring at a tablet in his hand as though he had not a care in the world.

And I remained frozen at the door, watching him, disbelieving that this was it.

That I had lost almost everything to get here, and yet, here I was nonetheless.

I clenched the grip of the 9mm, finding courage in the weight of it in my hand as it rested at my side.

My stunner was gone, left behind in the hallway after emptying it of charges in defense of my mother as she lay dying.

I was down to four bullets—no extra magazines sitting on my belt.

And then, finally, the one dagger Liddy encouraged me to take—Glory—strapped to my thigh.

That was it.

Four bullets and one knife.

Nothing else.

It was all I had been reduced to as I faced the man who started it all.

Dressed in his dark, navy-blue suit, white dress shirt, and crimson red tie, Raúl continued working.

It made me wonder if he hadn’t heard the commotion out in the hall as I killed his guards, or the sound of the fire alarms ringing throughout the house, or the soft scream of the door as I opened it, or the muted steps of my boots as I walked inside.

Or perhaps simply, my father was trying to show me what I had believed for so long…I didn’t matter. I was worthless.

The thought stung, causing pinpricks to litter the back of my throat, but I cleared it with a soft sound, choking down the emotion.

“I see you have found your way home on your own, Mara.” Raúl’s deep voice carried the familiar timbre I remembered from childhood.

The sound of a man finely aged like an expensive wine—smooth, tannic, and decadent.

He looked up then, blinking as he sat back in his chair, placing the tablet on the desk, and then interlacing his fingers as he leaned back in his chair, hands resting on his stomach.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you in this room. ”

“Thirteen,” I stated plainly, hearing the echoes of my past in my mind.

His gaze shifted to the left. “Ah, yes. Thirteen years. You were a little thing. You looked like your mother then and you look even more like her now.” He shifted, eyes back on me. “But your eyes were always mine. You were always mine.”

A tremor worked its way through me, but I locked it down, preventing it from showing. And then, I did the craziest thing—something I wasn’t sure if anyone else would ever understand, but I did. I knew exactly why I did what I did next.

Raúl watched my every move like a predator watching its prey.

He studied me as I slowly bent down and rested my gun on the floor.

Widened his eyes as I stood up straight—hands up, palms out in a non-threatening gesture.

Then I took a step forward. “It’s over, Raúl,” I said gingerly, watching him as he tracked my steps toward him.

“It’s finished. Telvia’s been lost. I’m here to ask that you surrender. ”

He cocked his head to the side, working his jaw as his eyes hardened. “I can still fix it. I can still repair the damage—”

“No, you can’t. You’ve lost control of the city—you know that.

” I took another step forward—slow, cautious movements.

I stated what I already knew to be true, what I had pieced together from all the bits of information I had gathered.

But I needed confirmation. “The NIT-V2 system was corrupted with the virus. You’ve already rebooted it, but when it came back online, the chips stopped responding the way they’re supposed to. ”

He stayed silent, his muscles frozen in time. That alone was answer enough.

I dropped my hands, breathing the confirmation in deeply. “I’m right, aren’t I? It really is over.”

Silence. Nothing but him watching me and me watching him.

And then…

“You’ve grown up,” he said softly. “There were times I worried that you wouldn’t, but you did.”

My eyes narrowed on him as I stepped forward again, watching as his eyes glimmered. “I need you to officially surrender,” I said. Just because I knew this war was already done, the Dissenters didn’t know that.

He shook his head, tipping his chin to his chest. “It doesn’t work that way, my dear. It’s too late. ”

I finished crossing the remaining space to stand just before him with his desk between us. “Sasha has an airstrike coming in less than fifty minutes, and all of Telvia will be destroyed unless you surrender.”

His eyes widened once more, and then softened. Taking me in, he shook his head. “Lady De’vor is many things, Mara, but a murderer is not one of them.” He stood then, towering over me, making me feel small even as I stood up to my full height.

I worked hard to keep my voice steady. “She will and she is.” My fist curled. “I defected for that reason, because I refuse to watch the people of Telvia suffer for your crimes. I refuse to watch an entire city laid to waste because you were too greedy for power.”

He shook his head vehemently. “My dear, it’s not so simple. It never has been. I’ve made mistakes and choices I’m not proud of, but they were never purely motivated by a desire for power.”

I slammed my hand on his desk, growing frustrated as the odds and ends rattled. I was running out of time. I shouted at him. “It doesn’t matter! Don’t you see? Whatever it is won’t matter in forty minutes because we’ll all go up in flames, anyway!”

He clenched his jaw, hands curling into fists at his side.

I spoke again just as firm, but softer. “Log in. Log in to the system and send a message to your generals to stand down. Send a message to the Dissenters, to Sasha—I know you know how—and tell them that you surrender. Save the city, Raúl. Save Telvia. Save your people.”

His eyes clouded over even as they stared at me. “Save my people,” he muttered under his breath.

I nodded. “Yes. They are your people, Raúl. Your people.” My eyes caught the golden rays of morning filling the sky as the sun finally crested the horizon in the window behind him. I blinked, filled with awe at the beauty of it, remembering.

I refocused on my father. “Be the dawn, like you always taught me. Not the setting sun. Do the right thing and save them. There’s good in you, I know it.

I remember that part of you, and I don’t know why you lost it or where it went, but I believe it’s still there, Raúl.

” My hand curled into a fist, emotion bubbling up within me, threatening to take over.

“Please…do what’s right. Be that person again.

Be the dawning sun. Be the light that saves them. ”

His eyes flickered, and I watched with a pain-laced heart as a tear rolled down my father’s cheek. He pressed his lips together, precious seconds ticking into space. And then, I almost gasped when I saw my father smile.

Not the smile that sent my skin crawling in fear.

Not the smile that filled me with a sense of despair and shame.

Not the smile that reminded me of Belinda.

I saw my father’s true smile. A smile I hadn’t seen since the last time I stood in this office.

“I’m proud of you, Mara. I’m proud of the woman you have become.”

I thought my heart would implode.

He blinked away another tear. “Even in light of the trauma you’ve experienced, and the poor example I have been, you grew up to be a version of me that I had only ever dreamed of becoming.

” He placed a palm on his desk as he watched me.

“You’ve risen from your ashes, hija. Compressed them into gems,” he said, shaking his head lightly. “And I am truly proud.”

Was all of this real or was I dreaming? Because never in my life did I think I would face my father and hear him say those words…that he was proud of me. My heart jackknifed in my chest, and I couldn’t help but place a hand over it in a futile attempt to soothe its rapid beat.

“I made a mess of things, didn’t I?”

My chest tightened, pieces of broken glass cutting into my aching heart. “Yes.”

He grimaced, nodding slightly. “I don’t deserve mercy.”

I froze. I didn’t know what I expected to happen, but this was not it.

My father lifted his head and looked at me, eyes glistening. “Will you ever forgive me for what I’ve done? ”

Lips pressed into a thin line, I shook my head softly. “No.”

He closed his eyes with a painful frown as another tear rolled down his cheek.

I continued, “I can’t forgive you for what you did to Jacob.

He didn’t deserve to die. Neither did Chase, or my friend Matias, or anyone else that has died because of you.

I can’t forgive you for that.” And it was all true.

I couldn’t forgive him for the things he’d done to the people I loved.

He took their lives, lives that deserved to play out into the echoes of the future.

Lives that should have continued on for decades to come.

I couldn’t forgive him for that, and I didn’t think I ever would.

He grimaced and then nodded. “I understand.”

“But…” I hedged. “I can forgive you for what you did to me, and what you failed to do for me.” I knew it was stupid. I knew he didn’t deserve it. But I meant what I said to all those who wanted to doom Telvia to death.

The new world had to be won through love and compassion. And though I couldn’t muster forgiveness for the deaths wrought by his hands, I could forgive him for what he did to me. That was my choice.

My right .

And in doing so, I felt a huge weight slip off my shoulders. Letting go of my anger and hate spliced together pieces of my fractured heart and blew back the shadows that lurked in the darkest corners of my soul. Because in finally letting go of my past, I felt free …truly free .

Renewed breath filled my lungs, and I exhaled in a long sigh that felt cleansing and light.

He flicked his gaze up to me, mouth parting in a silent gasp. Then he pressed his lips together, and I saw his eyes glass over as he nodded again.

“Raúl—”

“No, Mara,” he said gently. “ Dad . I know I don’t deserve it, but I ask it of you, nonetheless.

You remind me of who I was—the man I sought out to be in the beginning of it all but lost sight of.

Something your mother reminded me of the night we conceived you, and again the day she asked me to renounce my claim to the West. She reminded me then, just like you’re doing now, of who I was”—he placed a hand on his chest, over his heart—“right here.”

I didn’t understand, but I wanted to. But time was of the essence, and I could spend the rest of my life learning the truth. With a heavy sigh, I uttered, “Dad.” The syllable felt foreign, estranged on my tongue.

He closed his eyes, tilted his head as though soaking in sunlight, and then nodded. “Yes. I remember.”

“Dad…” I said again. “Log in and surrender. If not for your people, if not for the lives you took that didn’t deserve it, then for me. Log in and surrender…for me .”

Slowly, he righted his face. Opened his eyes and looked upon me with tenderness.

“Yes,” he said again. “It’s time.” His deep, dark brown eyes glistened once more—a fresh set of tears just waiting to fall—as he reached for the tablet on his desk once more.

“Do you remember what I told you the last time you were here? The day I gave you that necklace?”

My heart skittered as I remembered. “You said I was the key.”

He smiled, and it was warm and loving and genuine. He handed me his tablet, and I looked at the screen asking for a numerical pin before looking back up at him in confusion. “You were always the key, Mara. From the very beginning.”

My lips parted. My heart quickened. I looked at the tablet in my hand again, four dashed lines waiting to be filled. It…it can’t be. “My birthday?”

His smile broadened. His dark eyes brightened. Then he nodded. “The key. You’ve always been the key, Mara. The key to my salvation…since the very beginning,” he repeated.

BANG!

One piercing shot.

One loud, thunderous sound.

And I watched as dawn was shattered by shadow, causing my mending heart to break.