“Blake, we can’t just destroy the Defenders!” I argued again, this time jumping to my feet. “This is madness! They haven’t done anything wrong! You’re talking straight-up murder!”
“Sam, listen to me.”
“No. I won’t be part of this, Blake. It’s wrong, and you know it!”
“Sam! You have to listen to me. You don’t understand. The Defenders are still bugs. You want to release a hundred monsters out into the world? And just hope humanity survives?”
I wrung my hands together, pacing the small confines of my cell. There had to be another way!
“Kory’s army of bugs will change the world as we know it. Dragons are bad enough, but this? They can’t hardly be stopped, Sam. They are drawn to blood and violence. Even if Kory’s subdued their inner animal for now—”
“He has! I’ve seen it! They aren’t the same. I can’t understand why you refuse to see it when it means hope for your own brother!”
I heard Blake inhale sharply.
“Sorry, I don’t want to drag Jaxon into this, but I just don’t get it. Why can’t you accept the fact that Jaxon might be able to live with the bug in him? Why are you so against everything the Defenders stand for? Even when it means a chance for Jaxon?”
Blake didn’t say anything, and for a moment, all I could hear was the sound of our heavy breathing. We’d reached a crossroad. If Blake pulled the trigger on this… killing the Defenders before giving them a chance… I didn’t know if I could forgive him. It felt wrong on so many levels.
And yet, even as I sat there, my breath slowing down, I could see his side to it. He didn’t trust Kory, which meant he didn’t trust anything Kory had been a part of. Including the Defenders. In his mind, they were trained killers merely waiting for their master to give the green light.
“There’s a lot more to Kory and this operation then you realize,” Blake said in a deep voice. “Like what happens if Kory did find a way to fix our reproduction problem? What then, Sam? The Dragon Fae will take over the world. Not to mention the bugs. They’re monsters. Hell, we’re monsters. The world has enough with just us, don’t you think?”
He sighed. “You act like I enjoy this. Like I want to be the one who declares genocide on a group of people! I never wanted any of this on my shoulders.”
I dropped down to my knees in front of the bars. “I know. Where’s Tonbo in all this? Shouldn’t he be the one making this decision and not us?”
“He’s the one who hatched this entire plan. Once Mack gets the proof needed to convince all the Irukas to join us, the singing begins. It will draw the bugs out toward the ocean, where they will follow the Irukas all the way back to Tonbo’s islands,” he said, his tone sad.
“Tonbo has a large storage shed, not far from one of the beaches. He’s preparing it now. When the bugs come, they will be led into it. Then the doors will be shut and locked. Tonbo’s gathering enough dragons together to make sure we get everyone in there.”
My stomach sickened. “And what? Gas them or something?”
Blake didn’t answer.
“Are you serious? This is way too much like World War Two! Who’s next, the Irukas? Because from where I’m standing, they’re potentially lethal too! I mean, they can convince an entire group to march into a gas chamber, for crying out loud! What if they decide they want to take over the planet next? Are you going to kill them off?”
“That will never happen. Tonbo has ways to keep them in line.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“Sam, I don’t like this anymore than you do! The whole thing makes me want to puke. But do you have a better plan?” There was desperation in Blake’s voice.
I squared my shoulders, even though he couldn’t see me. “Yes, as a matter of fact, I think I do. Or at least, I know someone who does.”
“Who?”
“Sammy,” I called out, not really answering Blake’s question. “I know you can hear me; I know you are still somehow aware of what’s happening. I give. Okay? I surrender! You can have me!”
“Sam? What are you doing?” Blake barked at me, but I ignored him.
I held my hands out, closing my eyes. “You can take over, Sammy, because I trust you have a plan. Better than killing a hundred islanders who had no idea what they were signing up for.”
“Sam!” Blake pleaded with me in the dark. “Don’t do this!”
“Blake, I can’t stand by while you help kill Kalepe and others like him. I won’t do it. I’d rather Sammy win because… I don’t know if I can be with you if you kill them all like this.”
The words felt heavy and horrible, filling my mouth with acid as they came out. I wished I could take them back, but I couldn’t. It was the truth. Blake had shown more compassion for his brother Jaxon this entire time. And Jaxon had done horrible, rotten things. These Defenders hadn’t done anything. Not yet, anyway. But that did not justify killing them first and asking questions later.
For a minute, there was nothing but silence between us. Then I heard something that sent me jumping back. A female laughing.
“Well played, Samantha,” she drawled out from the blackness.
“Sam? What’s going on?”
“I don’t know,” I answered truthfully, trying to place not only where the voice was coming from, but also whose it was.
There was a soft tsking sound. “I must say, lover’s quarrels are so tedious. Both of you are so passionate about your own standpoint, while scared to hurt the other one’s feelings.”
“Who the hell are you?” Blake yelled.
“Ever so demanding, aren’t we, Blake?” the girl answered, growling out his name. “Like I have to answer to you.”
Confused, my eyes continued darting around the room. Who was in here with us? Had she been in here the entire time? I was pretty sure there were no female Defenders.
He groaned. “I should’ve known. Just like you, Kate, to hide so no one can see the piece of garbage you really are.”