I make it three blocks before Damien catches me.
"You're not doing this." He's breathless. Furious. Terrified. "You're not sacrificing yourself. We fight together or not at all."
"There's nothing to fight! He has all the power. All the leverage. All the—"
"He has fear. That's all he's ever had. Fear and manipulation and the ability to make people believe they don't have choices." Damien grabs my shoulders. "But we do have choices. We always have choices."
"What choice? Let him murder families? Let children die? What kind of choice is that?"
"The choice to call his bluff." He pulls out his phone. Shows me something. "While you were walking away feeling noble, I was making calls. That house in the video? The one he's supposedly targeting?"
"What about it?"
"It's been empty for three months. The family moved to Seattle. I know because I know the realtor—she's James's sister-in-law. That video was staged. Old footage. Richard's scaring you with ghosts."
