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Spade. It was a mouthful. I was just glad he let me call him
Henry. I had a feeling that was unheard of in Spade. I glanced at Henry, unsure
if now was the time to bring it up or not. They'd killed, Margo. I couldn't
ignore it. My stomach lurched at the memory of her funeral. Finding the courage
I asked, “Are you in charge of the guards?”
    Henry studied me for a moment, but gave me an honest answer,
“I'm in charge of all of Spade. Why do you ask?” He was gentle and warm in his
speech. I couldn't understand how they'd shot at Margo without reason or cause.
    “Your men killed a friend of mine.” I glared at him, long
and hard, momentarily taking my eyes off the road. It wasn't much of a road
considering what the world had turned to in recent years.
    “Olivia!” I heard Gavin's voice and glanced ahead, doing my
best to avoid the rubble as I hit the brakes, slamming the truck to a stop. The
seatbelt restrained me from hitting the steering wheel or being thrown through
the windshield. The city was in ruins.
    Henry sighed. “I've killed a lot of men in my days. Nothing
I'm proud of. There is a high cost of war and a higher cost to protect those
you care about. Those who look up to you. Your citizens,” he reminded me
coolly.
    “You killed a friend of mine: Margo.” I didn't suspect he
remembered her or her name. “She came to Spade last February. She and another
friend of mine came to make an alliance with a town in the far western region
of Cabal. You shot and killed her before she could say anything, tell you who
she was.”
    Henry didn't answer for a long moment. Was he trying to
remember Margo or just unsure how to respond? Finally he spoke, “I don't
remember that day, but we had a traitor from Torv pretending to be one of our
soldiers. He had protected our borders a little too violently. Something I still
don't fully understand, unless he was concerned his cover might have been
blown. Eventually he had to be put down.”
    “Put down?” Rane quipped. “He wasn't an animal.”
    Henry spoke gravely, “You didn't know him. Most of our men
are to be trusted, but occasionally things don't go as planned. It doesn't
excuse any of what happened and I am sorry for your loss,” Henry told me. “But
I can assure you, we are not like Cabal. We are not evil or the outlaws you
imagine us to be. We've survived this war and the government for decades. I've
done all I can to protect my people and those who enter the gates from the
government. I don't claim to know what's best for the world outside of my city
walls. I can only claim to want to try, to want to understand and find peace among
men.”
    I wasn't sure what to believe. I sighed, unable to answer
him. “We're here,” I remarked stepping out of the car. “Everyone split up. If
you see anything, don't approach Craynor. Meet back here in twenty minutes.”
The doors of the car all opened and closed. I headed down to the left while we
all split up in different directions.
    I tried to push all thoughts of Henry, Margo and the
uprising aside. I needed to find Joshua. He was the reason I was here in Haven. Joshua? He didn't answer. I surveyed the damage left behind. Haven
looked nothing like it had when we'd lived within the city gates.
    The barbed wire was crushed to the ground by brick and
stone. It looked as if vehicles had driven over it. I walked through the
streets, sifting rubble and grimacing as I found decaying bodies left behind.
There'd been no burials, no ceremonies for the dead. I choked back a sob and
refocused on Joshua.
    My feet climbed atop the rubble, the only way to get further
into Haven. The city was in shambles. Nothing looked to be standing from where
I was situated. Rane had made it out alive. It was possible wherever she'd been
hidden, Craynor could have taken Joshua. I wished I'd asked her more about it.
    My boots crunched metal and glass,  this had once been the
dormitory. I had remembered escaping from it. I walked further into