"You know, I really did kill all those people in my file," she stated as they entered his home several hours later.
Standing by the closed door, she watched as he toed his boots off, his dark blue eyes staring back into hers calmly.
"I know that, Harmony." He nodded as he straightened, standing before her, the lack of scorn or judgment in his expression confusing her further.
"I killed them in cold blood," she added. "I hunted them. Tracked them. And I felt their blood flow over my fingers. And I don't regret it, Lance."
"I know you don't." His expression was somber.
"How can you just accept it?" she whispered. "You're a sheriff. You deal in the law, you said it yourself. How can you claim me so easily?"
It made no sense. She could barely stand herself.
"A child has no defenses," he said then. "What was done to you as a child was inexcusable. How you've dealt with that as an adult is more than forgivable. But you know as well as I do that the time for it has come to an end. In ways, Jonas is right. To survive, you're going to have to learn how to work within the system."
"A system that lets monsters roam free?" she sneered as her chest tightened painfully.
"Do you know what they did to those children, Lance? Do you have any idea… ?"
"Do you think you can save them all, Harmony?" He stared back at her remorselessly.
"Every life you've taken has taken a piece of your soul. I held you while you slept, after Jonas brought you to the office. I saw the tears you shed and heard the pain you felt. Do you think you're not killing yourself like this?"
She flinched. She had known there was a chance she had dreamed, but he had never mentioned it, never let her guess.
"I'm just one person," she whispered. "A creation, that's all."
"No, dammit, that's not all you are, Harmony," he bit out, his hands gripping her upper arms as he gave her a little shake. "Look at yourself, baby. You don't sleep, you barely eat. You run on nerves and sheer gut stubbornness alone. How much longer can you do that? How much longer before it catches up with you and you mess up? How much longer do you think you can avoid the repercussions of it? You will be caught. You will be arrested. And you will die."
Harmony inhaled roughly, seeing the pain in his eyes, the determination in his face to keep that from happening.
"They are children," she cried out before she could stop herself. "Helpless. Dear God, Lance—"
"Work within the law, Harmony," he ground out. "You're smart, and you're intuitive as hell. Use those abilities to find the proof and bring them to justice. Justice does work, baby. When you use the law to your advantage."
"While children are dying."
"While you're alive to put as many of them as possible behind bars," he yelled back at her. "For God's sake, what good are you going to do a single child if you're dead?"
"I save as many as I can." She shook her head desperately.
"Bullshit!" He released her as quickly as he had grabbed her. "You know yourself that this isn't working, Harmony. It's destroying you."
"I don't know what else to do," she cried out furiously. "I can't stand it, Lance. I can't stand to see the pain in the eyes of children who have been abused. I can't stand knowing I was created and used to kill even one of the people who could have saved them."
She slapped her hand to her mouth, turning away from him as comprehension flooded his expression.
"The kills you made as a child," he said behind her. "You're still trying to make up for them, aren't you?"
Her chest was so tight with pain she could barely breathe. A hard chill wracked her body and she could feel the cold icing in her soul.
"The assassinations I performed as a child, each victim fought for children and their rights," she whispered, shaking her head at the futility of even remembering. "Each one of them. They were exemplary parents, and they fought for the children who had no parents worthy of the name."
"And you think this is how they would want you to repay the fight they took on?" His arms came around her, as though he knew the dark, cold places that tormented her. "If you knew anything of their lives, then you know it's not."
Harmony fought to control her breathing, to control the dampness that flooded her eyes. She was tired, strung out from exhaustion and arousal and emotions that just didn't make sense to her anymore.
"They died for their beliefs," she whispered. "They suspected the Council was creating us. Information had been smuggled from the labs several times and it was brought to their attention. Before they could save any of us, they were killed. I killed them." She tried to jerk away from him, tried to put distance between herself and the man weakening her from the inside out.