Her father reached the end of the ladder. Instead of running off, he exchanged a look with Gregor.
Enzo’s voice came from a few yards behind her. “Move away from your father!”
Charity turned to see him. He held a gun raised and pointed in her direction. She stood directly between Enzo and her father.
Did he mean to shoot her father on sight? She shook her head and lifted her hands, pleading. “Don’t do this. You aren’t like this.” A stupid thing to say. Clearly, he was like this. But she hoped he’d lower the gun. “Enzo,” she pleaded. “Please, don’t.”
A flicker of remorse went across his expression. “I’m sorry, Charity. I hoped things wouldn’t end this way, but I have to dothis. You need to step aside and let me arrest your father. You too, Gregor. This doesn’t have to involve you.”
Perhaps it shouldn’t have amazed her that Enzo had changed so completely, but even staring at his outstretched gun, she wondered how he could be the same person. Where had the man gone who’d held her so tenderly after the raider attack?
“This will all go better for everyone,” Enzo went on, “if I can report you came peacefully.”
Behind her, she heard Gregor and her father murmuring to each other. Her father wasn’t actually thinking of letting himself be taken in, was he?
This was her fault, her fault, her fault.
“Step aside,” Enzo told her again. “Or I’ll arrest you for obstructing an officer.”
She held her ground. “I’m not going to. You’ll have to shoot me if you want to get to him.”
Enzo jaw tightened in frustration. “Charity.” The word was half-plea, half-growl. “Be reasonable. If he hasn’t done anything wrong, the system will go easy on him. All you're doing right now is making things worse for yourself.”
A movement behind Enzo caught her attention. Milo was padding through the cornrow, creeping up behind him. It would’ve been helpful if Milo had a weapon, but the only thing he carried was an ear of corn. What did he plan to do with that? Still, hope lifted her.
“We haven’t done anything wrong,” Charity called, perhaps too loudly. She didn’t want Enzo to hear Milo’s footsteps. “That doesn’t matter to the government. They never find Empowereds innocent. Don’t you have a conscience? How could you do this? Did you mean anything you ever said to me?”
His voice dropped. “I meant it all.”
That made it worse. “Would you really shoot me? After you?—”
“I don’t want to,” Enzo cut her off, “but I will if I have to.”
Milo reached Enzo and pressed the corncob into his back. “Funny, I want to shoot you, and I just might. You’d better drop your gun to convince me otherwise.”
Enzo stiffened but didn’t lower his gun. “Charity, does your brother have a gun?”
Her lips trembled, trying to hold back the truth. A lie right now would save her family. If she could form the word yes… The word “No” came out as a pained cough.
Enzo swung his elbow back, clipping Milo on the side of the head. Milo took a toppling step to regain his balance and lunged at Enzo. Enzo sidestepped him and lifted his gun toward Milo.
All Charity could do was scream, scream and watch as the man she’d just kissed aimed to shoot her brother. Would Enzo kill him?
She didn’t hear the sound of the gun, but a dart suddenly protruded from Enzo’s neck. The sort from their tranquilizer gun.
He swiped at it, and his shot at Milo went wide, loud as a drumbeat. A nearby cornstalk exploded.
Milo tackled him, pushing him to the ground. To Milo’s credit, he seemed to be trying to contain Enzo more than kill him. She’d seen her brother do worse to men.
The two struggled for a couple of minutes before the drug completely stole Enzo’s strength. Then he lay there, limp.
He turned and looked toward the apple trees as he lost consciousness. But even then, Charity could tell he was staring at her father, not at her. Those brown eyes she’d gazed into were only focused on him. She’d never been the important one to Enzo.
20
The first thing that intruded into Enzo’s consciousness was the hum of an engine and the jostle that came from riding in a vehicle. The second thing he noticed was a dull sensation of pain in his chin, chest, and knee. He tried to move and found that his arms were cuffed behind him.
That’s when he realized something was very wrong. His eyes flew open.