Page 43 of Night Shift

Cassian closes his folder. “Then let me ask the practical question. What can we do to convince you to restore normalcy?”

Nothing, I think.

But then I look at Calliope.

Her shoulders are tense, and the unhappiness on her face is more difficult to endure than every complaint I have heard tonight.

“You wish Dawn restored,” I say.

“Yes,” Petra answers immediately.

Cassian nods. “Very much.”

Alaric lifts one shoulder. “I recognize that I am in the minority.”

Then Calliope speaks.

“Yes.”

One word.

It cuts through me more efficiently than any weapon ever made.

I look at her. “Calliope.”

“Please.”

The room disappears around her.

I know what she is asking. I know what I promised her before I broke that promise, and I know that everything I have done since has moved me farther from the thing I intended to preserve.

Still, I cannot surrender it.

“No.”

Calliope’s face changes.

Zadok blinks. “No?”

“I will not restore Dawn.”

“Why not?”

“Because this is the only thing I have ever wanted.”

The words sound inadequate the moment I say them.

Alaric leans toward Cassian. “He’s in love with a mortal.”

“We gathered that,” Cassian mutters.

Petra sighs.

“It would be sweet if we weren’t all facing existential peril.”

Zadok calls for order again, but Calliope is already standing.

She does not look at me as she walks toward the doors.