Chapter 61
ARMEN
We don’t go back to the hub.
Instead, I lead her up. Through the service stairwell, past the locked door, into the Skylight Room.
The space is quiet, familiar. Starlight filters through the clouded glass, casting silver across the concrete. The lantern burns low on the crate. Blankets still layered in the center from last time.
Vi stops in the middle of the room, staring up at the glass. “Would you have killed her?”
“If we had to.”
She swallows. “And you wouldn’t feel bad about it.”
“No.”
She studies my face for a long moment. Then she steps closer. “I should feel bad about wanting to keep hitting her. But I don’t.”
“That’s survival,” I say. “Not cruelty.”
“Is there a difference here?”
“Sometimes.”
She reaches up, fingers curling into my shirt. “I want to forget what just happened. Just for a little while.”
“I can help with that.”
The door opens behind us.
Sting and Rogue step inside, already shedding coats, masks coming off. They don’t speak. Just cross the room until they’re beside us.
Sting’s hand finds Vi’s waist. “You sure?”
She nods. “Yes.”
“Good,” Rogue murmurs. “Because we’re not letting you go tonight.”