Darius shook his head, bitterness in every movement. "No. I can't. I-I'm sorry. You were right to doubt me," he said, voice breaking. "Even now, I still can't get the job done. I couldn't keep her safe."
Silence pooled around them. Nnenna's heart hammered against her ribs. Words crowded her throat, anger, pleading, a thousand small betrayals, but the cold metal kept them locked inside.
The choice hung in the air: a man pointing a gun at the woman he claimed to love, and the rest of them, helpless, watching the terrible price of a "right thing" that had gone horribly wrong.
"I failed to love her enough," Darius added, voice raw. "But I can still get one job done. I can save the world, whether I walk out of here alive, in a body bag, or in cuffs."
Short. Final.
"Let her go," he added, nodding toward Athena.
Arthur's reply was flat, controlled like a machine. "No."
Darius stepped forward, desperate now. "Then Trade. Athena for Nnenna. Both she and I leave free."
