A Spark of Light by Zoe Cannon

Author:Zoe Cannon
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-05-21T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

I should have thought harder about the futility of trying to outrun someone who could fly.

When I burst into my penthouse apartment, he was already there. He stood in front of the floor-length window that took up the entire far wall, the last of the sunset fading into darkness behind his wings. He didn’t say a word, only watched me enter as if this were his home, and I were the intruder here.

“Get out,” I snapped.

He didn’t move. “You never answered my question. Is what you received worth it?” He ran a finger along the back of my sofa, like he was testing the quality of the leather. “Your youth has been extended for decades, with the promise of decades more. You have money and material comforts enough to provide for your every need, and all your wants besides. You have been given a great deal in exchange for, as you say, simply nudging people toward what they would have done anyway. So tell me, are you happy with your choice?”

I wanted to close my eyes and block out every sight of the wealth around me. The sofa he was fondling, crafted from the softest leather. The window that let me look down over the city like a queen staring down at her subjects. The priceless pieces of jewelry lying out in plain sight on a table by the door—I had placed them there in an effort to entice myself to wear them, but I never had.

“If you’ve really looked into me as much as you want me to think you have,” I said, “you should know that’s not the reason I made the deal.”

“Then tell me about the part that matters to you,” he said. “The revenge on the one responsible for your children’s deaths. When you saw his house burning, when you heard his screams, were you happy then? Were you satisfied?”

“Why should I answer any of your questions? You’ve been manipulating me from the beginning. You never planned on jumping, did you? You knew my history, and saw a button you could press.” I made a sharp noise in the back of my throat. “And yet you’re supposed to be on the side of good.”

“You still have it wrong,” he said. “Yes, I drew you out deliberately. And no, the connection to your own history did not escape my notice. But I did not formulate the plan myself. I only volunteered. And I volunteered because…” He paused. I wasn’t sure whether he looked embarrassed, or just tired. “Because a part of me was hoping you would refuse to intervene, and I could take the excuse to finally forget everything I have seen, everything I have done and failed to do. But if an agent for the other side could be turned, I thought perhaps it could prove there was still some good left in humanity.”

“And if you can’t turn me?” I asked.

His smile held no small amount of sadness this time. “You did promise not to stop me a second time.

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