Morningside Fall(158)

“And you were going to murder my little boy for it.”

He shook his head again forcefully. “No, Cass. I don’t blame you for not believin’ me, I know I wouldn’t. But no, I just thought it’d rattle him. Make him see why it was dangerous to have those people around. But then your son, that boy, he went and surprised us all. Said to let it go. Forget about it, move on like it never happened. Well, not a one of us had thought of that. After that, everyone started spinnin’ their own plans.

“And then when we found out it was Painter’s sister. Well, good God, I wanted to hang myself. And I thought maybe when he found us in that room with Wren, I thought maybe he’d found out. And Connor…” He looked over at his rifle. “Well, I guess maybe there’s something to that… reapin’ what you sow.”

His eyes went glassy for a moment, and Cass left him to his own thoughts while she wrestled through her own. Pieces were starting to come together for her, in a broken kind of way that made it seem all the more true. Factions within factions. Plans gone awry, either from sabotage or because the plans themselves were poorly made. Overreactions, overcorrections.

People usually talked about conspiracies like they were so clean-cut, always perfectly executed. The schemes revealed in her mind were a tangled mess. And that made them believable, because they were so utterly human.

“Hondo and Vye, I understand,” she said. “I never felt right around those two. But what about North? Rae?”

Aron came back to himself and looked at her.

“Rae, no, Rae’s too much a straight-shooter, too strong-minded. I don’t think she ever knew much about what the rest of us were up to. And North… well, I never could read North. He’s a power player to be sure, and he looks out for himself. But truth be told, I got the feelin’ he’s careful about stayin’ in the inner circle because he don’t like what might happen if he wasn’t.”

“And what about you, Aron? What now?” Cass asked.

“Now… now I’m trying to do what I should’ve been doin’ all along. Just takin’ care of people with my own hands, the best I know how.”

“Kicked off the Council?”

He made a dismissive sound. “Naw, I quit. Told ’em what I thought they could do with their High Council.” He shook his head. “No, I’m goin’ with ’em. Been talkin’ with the Awakened here, and some others. Once we all move outside, we’re gonna run the patrols, keep these people safe. It’s what I shoulda been doin’ all along. What about you?”

Cass got to her feet. “I think I’ll pay a visit to our High Council in the morning.”

Aron stood and nodded. “You’re welcome to stay here tonight, if you don’t mind sharin’ some space. Might be safer than tryin’ to go somewhere else.”

“I may take you up on that,” Cass said. She wanted to catch up with Kit, and as much as she wanted to stay angry at Aron, she felt his change of heart had been genuine and thorough. There wasn’t much point in harboring hatred for a repentant man when she already felt so short of allies. She wasn’t ready to trust him yet, but she could see maybe doing it again one day. She nodded and started towards the door. Just before she left, Aron cleared his throat. Cass stopped and turned in the doorway.

“I know it don’t change nothin’,” he said. “But I am sorry for hurtin’ you, Cass. For all of it.”

She nodded. And for some reason, an old dusty box on the workbench caught her eye. It looked like rifle ammunition. Cass nodded towards the rifle.

“Didn’t know you were much of a shooter.”

“Was, back in the day,” Aron said. “Been a long time.” He smiled and gazed down at the weapon, and rested his hand lovingly on it. “She looks like a sweetheart, but she hits like an angry drunk.”

“What’s she shoot?”

Aron flipped up the lid on the old box, and pulled out a large shell. He held it up for Cass to see.

“Thirty kilojoules,” he said. “You ever seen anything that mean before?”

“I have,” Cass said. “Got any extra?”

Aron looked puzzled and a little taken aback. “I don’t know about extra,” he said, “but how many you need?”

“How about three?”

There were still plenty in the box. He took out two more shells and handed her the three hefty rounds.

“Don’t lose ’em,” he said. “They don’t make ’em much anymore.”

Cass slipped them into a pocket.

“I’ll be sure to keep my eye on where I put them.”