The night before the hearing, I couldn't sleep.
I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, my hand on my belly. The twins were restless, kicking and squirming like they could feel my anxiety. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Dr. Reed's face. I heard her voice, calm and reasonable, explaining why she'd done what she'd done. I felt the weight of everything that was riding on tomorrow.
If we lost, everything would be over. The coalition, the survivors, all the progress we'd made—it would all be for nothing. Dr. Reed would walk free, and she'd keep hurting people. She'd keep destroying lives. The pattern would continue, and more people would suffer.
But if we won...
If we won, we'd bring down an empire. We'd expose the pattern. We'd show the world that predators could be beaten. We'd give hope to survivors everywhere. We'd prove that the system could be changed.
"We're going to win," I whispered to the darkness. "I know we are. We have to."
