The Letting by Cathrine Goldstein

second man’s voice again.
    “Bryce.” Phoenix’s voice is slow and even. “There is no need for this. Drop your gun and get lost.”
    “Oh isn’t that your thing?” So the second man is named Bryce. And obviously, they have a history.
    “My thing?” Phoenix asks. “My thing hasn’t changed. You’re the one who jumped ship.”
    “Because you weren’t getting it done,” Bryce answers.
    “I have her,” Phoenix boasts.
    “What?”
    “Veronica Billings. I have her.”
    “What do you mean have her?”
    “At a camp. Not far from here. I am holding her there.”
    “Bull—”
    “Believe what you want.” Just the sound of Phoenix’s voice calms me. “But look around. Don’t you think the great Veronica Billings would come charging out from wherever she was hiding, waving a sword, just to save her camp?” He’s right. I should have done exactly that. I didn’t think it was possible, but I have disgusted myself even more. I watch the drama unfold through Gretchen’s body language. She looks down, momentarily.
    “Veronica’s a coward,” Bryce scoffs. “She’s hiding.”
    “She’s not a coward.” Phoenix challenges Bryce with his words. “She’s a prisoner.”
    “How’d you finally get her?” Bryce asks.
    “Luck. Look Bryce, even if you captured Veronica today, what would you get but some money? And what would that do for you? Do you really want to go live in the Inferno? Selling her wouldn’t make any difference in the world. It wouldn’t change any of those things we wanted to change—”
    “You wanted to change, Phoenix. You wanted to change.”
    “You did too, Bryce. Once upon a time. So be smart here. Put the guns away. Raid the mess hall. Stock up on some food and head back to the city.”
    “There’s nothing left there for me.”
    “Jeannie?” Phoenix asks. There is no answer. “Jeannie’s gone?” Phoenix sounds doubtful and brotherly. So Bryce must have had one of those “relationships” they say existed once upon a time. A partnership where two people choose to be together— something that is highly illegal in our world and carries with it a hefty penalty. I know it’s taboo, but my brain can’t help but flash vivid pictures of what that must have been like—to be with someone because you want to be with him. There is a long pause before anyone speaks.
    “They called her to the Coupling. To the Coupling, Phoenix.” Then I hear some kind of commotion and loud, uncontrolled sobs. But they are not from the girls or any one of us. They are from Bryce. I can’t hear the exact words Phoenix says to Bryce, but I believe he says he’s sorry.
    When the crying stops, Phoenix speaks. “Just go, Bryce. Head back home and wait for my message. I will call on you when the time is right. But that time is not now. Selling Veronica to them would make you no better than Veronica herself.” Those horrible, vile words make Gretchen nod and must work magic on Bryce because I hear heavy footsteps marching away. Then the footsteps stop, maybe just a few feet from my cabin door.
    “You really have her, Phoenix? You really have that…that…monster?”
    “I have her.” And the steps march on.
    Gretchen unties me and gives the all clear. I stand, stretching, working out the kinks that are becoming familiar to my body. Suddenly there are three sets of eyes staring at me from underneath their cots. “You’d better explain,” Gretchen advises. “You’ve all got a long road ahead of you.” I nod, but before I can say a word, the cabin door is yanked open and Lulu comes storming through.
    “Did you know?” she asks.
    “Lulu,” I exclaim. “You have to be careful, Margaret may still be—”
    “Margaret is in the Infirmary with cold compresses on her head. I want you to answer my question. Did you know?”
    “I…”
    “No,” she snarls, sounding more like a woman than a girl. “Answer me. Did you know what was going to happen to all of those girls?”
    I shake my head.