In minutes, I was standing over dozens of dead bodies. My eyes swept the ground as I walked through the sea of corpses. Something crunched under my foot. I looked down and saw a hand. A human hand. Connected to that hand was a person. A person I knew. A person I never wanted to hurt. Maggie. Near her, I saw Sammy. Both of them were dead. I’d killed them. I killed my friends. “Two down, one to go,” I said to Eliet. “I’ve got a location for Melissa,” he said back. I followed his directions to a room. Walking inside, I saw it was the same as mine. “Come out, come out, wherever you are,” I said in a sing-song voice. I heard a whimper coming from underneath the bed. “Found you,” I whispered. I stuck my hand under the bed and pulled out Melissa. With a grunt, I threw her against the wall. “Thank you for the hospitality. I’m sorry things had to end this way,” I said to her, drawing my dagger. As I closed the distance between us, I saw the red scar from the tribaum I carved into her. Funny how that worked out. I drove the dagger into her chest, and blood spilt onto the carpet. I tossed her away from me. “It’s done, Eliet. The rebellion is dead,” I hissed into my earpiece. I could hear him laughing on the other end of the line. “Did you hear what I said, Eliet?” I asked. “It’s over, you can send someone to come get me. Maybe Jade could come. I’m ready to come home.” His laughter became clearer. “Oh, Elias. The rebellion is dead, yes. But you aren’t coming home. The rebellion died, and you will die with it.” The line clicked off and a rapid beeping filled my ears. It sped up, faster and faster, until it stopped. I barely had time to take a final breath before the room blew apart in an explosion of heat, fire, and blood.174Please respect copyright.PENANAIhegQawT3B