Page 101 of Ember Rising

“Are you one of the twenty?”

“I am not.”

“You’re willing to let go, just like that? Cede control to people you may not agree with?”

“I know we agree on the fundamentals. Human rights for all are nonnegotiable, and democracy is the best form of government humans have come up with.”

Marta is someone my mother would have been friends with. I check my aromium dampener, making sure it’s in place even though we’re underground, and then meet Marta’s eyes.

“What do you want Mae to do?”

Her brows notch in a serious look. “We have very small listening devices. They’re the size of a pencil eraser. Lochlan Murphy conducts meetings in his home, and we want to get ears inside his office.”

“Is that it? She plants the device and then you’ll help me get her and her kids out?”

She leans an elbow on the railing, looking like she’s posing for a magazine in her long, wide-legged gray pants and black silky blouse.

“I won’t lie to you, Briar. Now or in the future. Lochlan Murphy has moved up since you were sent away. He reports directly to Whitman. Getting his wife and children out will be difficult, and when we do, all hell will break loose. Murphy will turn this city inside out looking for them because nothing is worse in his mind than appearing weak.”

“I plan to kill him, so that won’t be an issue.”

She arches a brow, her lips turning up slightly at the corners. “I like how you think. That would be ideal. In your briefings, you and Marcus will find out how many guards Murphy’s house has. How many of those guards are on Mae. Where the children go to school. What their routines are. Who works for the household.”

I sigh deeply, knowing she’s right—I’m going to have to dig deep and find some patience for this to work.

“We have an asset who has access to Murphy’s schedule. His household staff is much more relaxed when he’s not in town. That will be our opening to get you some time with Mae. She probably won’t have her children with her, though. You can talk to her and pass her the device.”

“How soon will that be?”

“I can’t say. It will be when it’s safest, for your sake and for hers.”

I push away from the railing. “Lochlan is obsessed with collecting rare and valuable art. Nothing new—the classics. The more valuable it was before the virus, the more he wants it. I remember him dropping everything to go look at a Francisco Goya painting. I don’t know if it’s possible for your people to get their hands on something like that, but if Lochlan heard something valuable became available, he’d want it. He’d go see it himself, because he doesn’t trust anyone else to authenticate it.”

Marta’s eyes are bright; the wheels in her brain are turning.

“This is excellent, Briar. Thank you.”

“I only ask one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“I want to be the one to kill him. Not with a machine gun from far away, either. I want to look into his eyes as he dies.”

She considers. “If it’s possible, yes. But we may want to use Lochlan to get to Whitman. And if not, I won’t order another operative to stand down if they have a shot at Murphy. There’s too much at stake.”

I nod. “I just want your assurance that Marcus and I will be on any team assigned to kill him, and that everyone else on the team will know I get to do it if it’s possible.”

“You have my word.” She takes a handheld device from her pocket and looks at the screen. “Your next briefing starts soon. Do you know where you’re going?”

I furrow my brow. “All I know is it’s one level down.”

“I’ll walk you.”

We pass people on our walk, most of them smiling or nodding at Marta. The operatives here don’t wear fatigues like most of the ones in San Antonio. Most people are dressed in regular clothes.

We pass two women in medical scrubs and a man in a well-cut suit.

Marta stops him, adjusting his pocket square. “There we are, darling,” she says, patting his pocket. “Carry on.”