Errant

Choices

Rowan and his squad lead me down a tunnel, binding my hands when we can no longer see daylight streaming through the opening. With eight guards surrounding me, I know my only option is to let them tie me, but as the wiry rope chafes against my wrists, I can't help the panicked feeling that worms its way inside me.

We descend several flights of steps, the air becoming warm and moist the lower we travel. Rowan finally stops at a door in a long hallway, nodding to the guards. The squad disappears, leaving only two guards with Rowan. The guards assume posts on the far ends of the hallway as Rowan knocks on the door.

An older man opens the door, his hair disheveled and his eyes tired. He takes one look at Rowan's face and ushers us into a sitting room without comment. Rowan doesn't take a seat, but instead makes a beeline for the sturdy door in the back, his eyes hard.

"Stay there," he tells me. I sit without comment, because now that the energy of the fight is over, it is all I can do to keep standing. My brother is gone, and with him, my fire. I huddle against the stone wall and keep my eyes on my feet as conversation blossoms from the room Rowan entered.

"Why did you bring her?" A female voice, low and strong. Pretty, even, with the right tone.

"It wasn't a choice, Arlette. You know how these things work."

"I do," she says, her voice terse. "You go into the city, you scout, you come home. You kill anyone you see. You don't bring home strays."

"They weren't Errant," Rowan says quietly.

"You don't know that." A sigh escapes him.

"Look, they got the boy she was with. I'm not going to kill the only leverage we have." He pauses, and then adds, "They knew those two were there. I don't know how. I've never seen Rae or any other Errant capable of something like that."

"The Errant knew they were there," Arlette repeats, her voice toneless.

"Arlette—"

"No, Rowan. I've seen too many people murdered for this kind of bullshit." The scraping of a chair reaches my ears, and a hand slams down on a desk. The guard in front of me keeps his eyes carefully averted from the room. "It is us, or them, and I've made my choice. Have you?"

Silence. My every sense is attuned to the conversation in the room, though it only raises more questions. The Errant took my brother. I have no idea who the Errant are, but it is more information than I had five minutes ago. So I cling to it like it is my last breath.

Arlette's voice echoes from behind the door again, scattering my thoughts. "Just bring her in."

Rowan opens the door, and I use the wall to lurch to my feet before he can help me. I set one foot in the room and have the impression of brown, wavy hair, piercing dark blue eyes that make me want to squirm under her gaze, and flat authority as she stands several inches taller than me. Then she plants both hands on her desk, leaning forward to lock gazes with me. I don't move.

"I don't know what you are," she hisses. "But I will make damn sure you don't hurt a single soul in this compound, do you understand?" A scowl creeps across my face, but I nod anyway. "I will give you two choices: join the resistance or I'll throw you back out in the streets for the Errant to execute. You know too much. You knew too much just from catching Rowan's squad being the sorriest excuse for reconnaissance I've ever had the misfortune of dealing with."

My eyes flick to Rowan to catch a slight twitch of his mouth downward, though he keeps his face carefully straight. I would pay good money to keep my face so carefully devoid of my thoughts.

"Well?" Arlette's eyes haven't left my face. I swallow, sweat trickling down the small of my back. If I join, I am marooned here with an uncertain future. But if I somehow manage a way out of my own execution, I will be completely ill-equipped to find my brother in a city I don't know. If I can manage living here while I search for my brother, there is a small hope that I will be able to find him. And hope, however small, is worth risking myself for.

"I'll do it," I say. Arlette stares at me for several seconds, her mouth turning down in a scowl. I can't help but think that she would be beautiful if she wasn't so terrifying. All at once she sighs, her eyes leaving mine, and sits back in her chair, crossing her arms. When she speaks, her voice is quiet. The fire is gone from it, but not the threat.

"Make no mistake," she says. "If you show the slightest sign of being Errant, we will kill you." She says it almost casually. I say nothing, because my lack of understanding is dangerous. But I can't help how the hair on the back of my neck stands up with her statement.

"Untie her and blindfold her," Arlette says, her delicate fingers running through stacks of paper on her desk.

"Blindfold?" I squeak. Arlette's dark eyes dart to mine again, with no humor in them.

"I haven't survived this long in an Errant regime by being stupid," she says flatly. "View it as a precautionary measure. Rowan is trustworthy." She pauses, a grin spreading across her face that reminds me of a predatory animal. "Mostly."

My stomach sinks, and the small amount of control that I felt I had of the situation evaporates. I grit my teeth until they creak as Rowan ties the blindfold around my head, shutting out my surroundings.

"Just remember," she says. "This was your choice."

Rowan leads me out of the room and into more darkness.