“It’s not a trick—”

Sevro hits him again. Quicksilver sputters, blood dribbling down his cracked lip. Tries to blink the pain away. Probably seeing spots. Sevro hits him a third time, casually, and I think it was for me, not the tycoon, because Sevro looks back into the darkness where I stand with impudent eyes. As if dangling moral bait in front of me so we can explode into conflict again. His moral creed has always been simple: protect your friends, to hell with everyone else.

Sevro pushes a knife into Quicksilver’s mouth. “I know you think you’re being clever, boyo,” Sevro growls. “Saying you’re a Son. Thinkin’ you’re so smooth. Thinkin’ you can talk your way clear of us dumb brutes. But I’ve played this game with smarter kinds than you. And I’ve learned hard. Keen?” He pulls the knife sideways against Quicksilver’s cheek, causing the man to move his head with the blade. Still, it splits the corner of his mouth just slightly.

“So whatever your garble, you ain’t coming out on top of this, shitbrain. You’re a rat. A collaborator. And it’s time to reap what you’ve sown. So you’re going to tell us how to get out of here. If you’ve got a ship hidden. If you can get us past the navy. Then you’re going to tell us about the Jackal’s plans, his equipment, his infrastructure; then you’re going to give us the gear to equip our army.” Quicksilver’s eyes dart from the knife to Sevro’s face.

“Use your brains, you little savage,” Quicksilver snarls when Sevro takes the knife from his mouth. “Where do you think Fitchner got the money—”

“Don’t say his name.” Sevro points a finger to the man’s face. “Don’t you dare say his name.”

“I knew your father….”

“Then why’d he never mention you? Why does Dancer not know you? Because you’re lying.”

“Why would they know about me?” Quicksilver asks. “You never tie two boats together in a storm.”

The words are a punch to the gut. Fitchner said the exact phrase when explaining why he didn’t tell me about Titus. The Sons lost much of their technical ability when he died. What if there were two bodies to the Sons of Ares body? The lowColors, and the high? Kept apart in case one was compromised? It’s what I would do. He promised me better allies if I went to Luna. Allies that would help make me Sovereign. This could be one of them. One who fled when Fitchner died. Who cut himself off from the contaminated body of the Sons.

“Why was Matteo in your bedroom?” I ask carefully.

Quicksilver stares into the darkness, wondering whose voice addresses him, yet now there’s fear in his eyes, not just anger. “How…how did you know he was in my bedroom?”

“Answer the question,” Sevro says, kicking him.

“Did you hurt him?” Quicksilver asks, enraged. “Did you hurt him?”

“Answer the question,” Sevro repeats, slapping him.

Quicksilver trembles with anger. “He was in my room because he’s my husband. You son of a bitch. He’s one of us! If you hurt him…”

“How long has he been your husband?” I ask.

“Ten years.”

“Where was he six years ago? When he worked with Dancer?”

“He was in Yorkton. He was the man who trained your friend, Sevro. He trained Darrow. The Carver made the body. Matteo sculpted the man.”

“He’s telling the truth.” I step into the light so Quicksilver can see my face. He stares at me in shock.

“Darrow. You’re alive. I…thought…it can’t be.”

I turn to Sevro. “He’s a Son of Ares.”

“Because he got a few facts right?” Sevro snarls. “You’re actually serious.”

“You’re alive,” Quicksilver murmurs to himself, trying to wrap his head around what is happening. “How? He killed you.”

“He’s telling the truth,” I repeat.

“Truth?” Sevro moves his mouth like he’s got a cockroach in it. “What does that even bloody mean? How could you possibly know that? You think you can get the truth outta some backroom-dealing shark like this. He’s in bed with half the Peerless Scarred in the Society. He ain’t just their tool. He’s their friend. And he’s playing you like the Jackal did. If he’s a Son, why’d he abandon us? Why’d he not contact us when Pops died?”

“Because your ship was sinking,” Quicksilver says, still staring at me in confusion. “Your cells were compromised. I had no way of knowing how deep the contamination went. I still don’t know how the Jackal discovered you, Darrow. My only contact to the lowColor cells was Fitchner. Just like I was his contact for highColor cells. How could I reach out when I didn’t know if it was Dancer himself who informed on you and made a power play to get rid of Fitchner?”

“Dancer would never do that,” Sevro says with a sneer.

“How would I know that?” Quicksilver says in frustration. “I don’t know the man.” Sevro’s shaking his head, overwhelmed by the absurdity. “I have videos. Conversations between myself and your father.”

“I’m not letting you near a datapad,” Sevro says.

“Test him,” I say. “Make him prove it.”

“I met your mother once, Sevro,” Quicksilver offers quickly. “Her name was Bryn. She was a Red. If I wasn’t a Son, how would I know that?”

“You could know that a dozen ways. Proves piss ’n shit,” Sevro says.

“I have a test,” I say. “If you are a Son, you’ll know it. If you belong to the Jackal, you would have used it. Where is Tinos?”

Quicksilver smiles broadly. “Five hundred kilometers south of the Thermic Sea. Three kilometers beneath the old mining nexus Vengo Station. In an abandoned mining colony, the records of which were wiped from the internal servers of the Society by my hackers. The stalactites were carved hollow using Acharon-19 laser drills from my factories in spiral halls to maintain structural integrity. The Atalian hydrogenerator was built with plans designed by my engineers. Tinos might be the City of Ares, but I designed it. I paid for it. I built it.”

Sevro sways there in stunned silence.

“Your father worked for me, Sevro,” Quicksilver says. “First for the terraforming consortium on Triton, where he met your mother. Then in…less legitimate ways. Back then I was not what I am today. I needed a Gold. A hard-nosed Peerless Scarred, and all the legal protection that gives. One who owed me and was willing to play rough with my competitors. Off the books, you know.”