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IMARA TAPPED HER RING FOR THE thousandth time in the last ten minutes. She kept willing Abe to call her, but he didn’t. He was supposed to get through the forcefield today, but she didn’t know when. If he got back before the vote, they still had a chance.
If he didn’t...
But he knew when the vote was scheduled. Of course he’d be back in time.
“Why can’t we just do what we’ve been planning all along?” Naki asked when Imara got back to the apartment and explained what had happened. “Basara’s almost done with the guns. We’ll sneak in, get the council members out, then hide until Keiko blows up the glass dome.”
“I’ve thought about that,” Imara said. “She let me go, but I’m pretty sure she’s having me followed. If I don’t do what she wants, I think she’ll kill me. She’ll kill you too. And Mom and Dad. And Abe. She’s unhinged. She’ll stop at nothing to get what she wants.”
“There has to be another way,” Naki said, throwing her hands into the air. The floor had started to wear from Naki’s constant pacing.
“Do you have any suggestions?” Imara asked hopefully.
Naki frowned and went back to pacing. No, not pacing. Marching. Basara hadn’t contributed to the conversation at all since Imara got back. He did bring out little snacks for them. As if that would help.
Imara shoved her palms into her eyes, trying to squeeze out an idea. Anything.
It was an impossible dilemma, and the only real way out of it was giving that speech. But then she’d be letting Santini take over the world.
But if she didn’t give the speech, Santini would kill the council members, and her, and still become the judge anyway.
“You have to destroy that video of Naki,” Basara said from behind a mug.
Imara gulped.
To her surprise, Naki rounded on him with a glare. “Don’t pressure her like that. She already has enough to deal with. Trust me, Imara would do anything to save me if she could. She’s already risked her life for me multiple times.”
Basara shrank back with a nod, but Naki suddenly burst into tears. “Who knew Santini was this sadistic all along? Who knew she had so much lust for power?”
“At least we know how to erase the tags,” Imara said. “Maybe we could still rescue the council members and blow up the glass dome and everything. Santini will kill us, but at least the rest of the world will have a chance. Although...”
“What?” Basara asked when Imara stopped.
She looked down. “Santini has had every step planned all along. She probably has a backup plan for her backup plan’s backup plan.”
“Maybe we can convince the council members to call a revote,” Naki said. “You give the speech like Santini wants, but afterward, in a week or so, talk to them again and convince them to do another global vote to kick Santini out.”
Imara shook her head so hard the curls grazed her forehead. “That will never work. Santini will put laws in place that give her absolute power. Once she’s voted in, it’s all over.”
Naki jumped in front of Imara. She scooped her hands up, looking into her sister’s eyes while a turquoise swirl of hope drifted out of her skin. “What’s that thing you always say? ‘When faced with two options, one bad, the other worse, choose a third option.’ We just have to find the third option.”
“Not this time,” Imara said, dropping her head to her chest. “This time, there isn’t one.”
* * *
IMARA HAD PERCHED HERSELF on the end of Naki’s bed. She was running out of time before she had to go back to the glass dome. Before she left, she had one last thing to do.
Her shoulders shook as she slid open the desk drawer. She pulled out the pewter mirror with opals embedded into the handle and bit her lip. She had promised Abe she would try again. As much as she didn’t want to, there had never been a time she needed to see good in herself more than this moment.
Closing her eyes, she moved the mirror into position in front of her face. With one last deep breath, she opened her eyes. She flinched before she could stop herself. Blood, mint, and rust rippled off her skin. Anger, distrust, and doubt. Slicing through each emotion were thick wine-colored fear spikes.
Her eyes fluttered shut as she sucked in a breath.
She could do this. She just had to find one good thing about herself. Just one.
Peeking through one eyelid, she begged herself to see past the smattering of negative emotions pelting off her skin. She pried the other eyelid open and forced herself to look. Really look.
It hurt.
She gripped the mirror by the handle and swallowed as doubt and fear overtook her senses. She allowed them control for a brief moment, and then she dove through the emotions she saw. They were true, but they weren’t the only true things she felt. Deep down, there had to be something good.
After several minutes, a pearlescent glow glinted from behind a blood red flame. Imara focused in on it until the glint became solid. It started taking shape until it moved from behind the flame to the front of it. A rope. A pearl-white rope fluttering as if it had a purpose.
As she stared, more pearl ropes appeared all around her skin. Each one fluttered with a steady rhythm. Consistent. Determined.
No.
As she had learned to do with so many emotions, Imara soon grasped the meaning of this one. Resolute.
Her heart thrummed in her chest as the emotion filled her.
Resolute.
The longer she stared, the more certain she became. This emotion had been a part of her all her life. It defined her as much as hope defined Abe. She’d made mistakes in her life, but she’d always been resolute. Strong. Determined.
She thanked Abe in her head for making her promise to try again. It hurt to look in that mirror, but now that she saw her fluttering ropes of pearl-white resolution, she hoped the emotion could sustain her. She needed it to sustain her.
Because she knew what she had to do now. And it wouldn’t be easy.
