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Cautiously, I look up, confused. Mario and Ricky merely stare at me, their expressions inscrutable. Then Mario reaches out. I flinch, expecting pain, but he only squeezes my shoulder lightly. A reassurance? A warning?
I glance at Ricky. He looks conflicted, emotions warring on his scarred face, but jerks his head, telling me to move on.
I hear Sarah’s voice behind me, puzzled. “This isn’t—why aren’t they?—”
“Be quiet,” Hadria tells her.
And so, in stunned silence, I make my way down the gauntlet completely unscathed. Tears prick my eyes as I first realize no one intends to harm me, and I let them spill over, unhidden, as I continue my slow walk down the line. Each step feels surreal, like I’m walking in a dream. Or…a nightmare I might have a chance to finally wake from.
But at the end, Aurora still holds something behind her back, still watches me with solemn, unreadable eyes. My heart pounds, adrenaline spiking as I reach her, and she looks into my face, brings her hands around to show me—a knife? A gun?—but no; she reveals a single white tulip, luminous in the moonlight.
“White tulips represent forgiveness,” she says gently. She presses the flower into my hands, the petals velvet-soft against my skin. “They also mean respect—and honor. I could never let harm come to the woman who saved Hadria’s life.”
“But your friends—” I choke out, guilt rising in my throat like bile.
Aurora is crying too, silent tears like mine. “Scarlett, I’ll always remember Yuri—and the others, too. But everyone here has done something they deeply regret.” She smiles sadly. “You’re welcome in the Syndicate if you want to stay. And you showed complete trust in us by agreeing to walk this gauntlet. You’ve earned your place here.”
I glance back at Lyssa, my heart swelling with love and gratitude. I nod, tears still hot on my cheeks, and even from this distance I can see the sheer relief on her face.
She crouches down for a moment, and Hadria, a little stiffly, crouches next to her, too, a hand on her back, and says something in her ear. I see Lyssa nod, and then I lose sight of them as, one by one, the Syndicate members approach me, offering an arm-shake, the forearm-clasp that shows trust between warriors. No hidden weapons. They really are welcoming me into their fold.
Into their family.
Ricky is last. I meet his gaze, search for any lingering resentment. “Can you really forgive me?” I ask at last.
He sighs, the sound weary. “I’ve never gone wrong following Aurora’s lead. If the little flower has decided to forgive you…so will I.” He grips my forearm. “Welcome to the Syndicate.”
Lyssa comes up next, but corners Aurora rather than offering to take my arm. “Suzy,” she hisses, “why didn’t you tell me what you were planning?”
Aurora smiles enigmatically. “Lyssa, you need to trust your family more. You know what the Syndicate stands for—and it’s not torture and brutality. I wanted to remind you of that.”
Hadria approaches, her steps measured, and I think she’s still in a lot of pain. She offers her arm, the one not in the sling, and I take it. “Welcome to the Syndicate, Scarlett. And thank you for saving my life.”
“I-I’m sorry for?—”
“Yes,” she says. “I know you are.” For a moment, the icy facade seems to warm, just a little. “I know what it’s like to do things you later regret. The question is…” She pauses, stands aside so that I can see that Sarah has followed her over as well. “Can you also forgive?”
I look at Sarah, and I see a deep vulnerability in her face for the first time. A crack in her stone walls. “I meant it,” she whispers. “I am sorry. If I could go back…”
I take it in, along with a deep lungful of air. If only we could all go back. If only. But maybe this is as close as I’ll ever get, by giving someone the second chance I’ve just been granted, too.
I put out my arm, and she takes it. “I forgive you,” I tell her. “If you’ll forgive me, too, for the things I’ve done to you.”
She gives a nod, small and shaky, but I know she means it.
Hadria nods, satisfied. “Then the matter is finished. Join us up at the house for a meal, Scarlett—a feast to celebrate your initiation.”
She takes Aurora and Sarah with her, leaving me alone with Lyssa. And as soon as the Syndicate members are all safely out of sight, Lyssa pulls me into her arms, kissing me fiercely, desperately. Like she’s trying to pour all her love, all her fear, all her relief into this one moment.
When she pulls back, her eyes blaze even in the moonlight, twin flames in the darkness reflecting the lights of the mansion behind us.
“Every time before when I’ve said this, I’ve been afraid,” she says fiercely. “I was a coward. But I’m not afraid now. I love you, Scarlett.”
My heart soars, a phoenix rising from the ashes of my past. I put my arms around her neck, marveling at the softness of her skin, the strength in her shoulders. “The Big Bad Wolf should never be afraid of anything,” I tell her, pressing my forehead to hers. “And I love you right back.”
But even as joy suffuses me along with the Wolf’s kisses, warming me from within, a dark thought lurks.
Grandmother is still out there. Still a threat. And I know she won’t rest until she’s destroyed everything and everyone I hold dear—including, now, the Syndicate.
