Rebirth of the Broken Luna A Second Chance at Luna's Heart novel Chapter 487

Chapter 487

XENOIS

I studied her, trying to determine if she was holding anything back. But she seemed genuinely emptied of useful information.

“Thorne, I called. “Get a medical team down here to treat her injuries. Nothing that will heal her completely, but enough to stabilize and reduce pain.”

“You’re providing medical care?” the woman asked, confused.

“I’m not a monster,” I said. “Just someone willing to do monstrous things when necessary. You cooperated. That deserves acknowledgment.”

I turned to the other two infiltrators. “Do either of you have anything to add? Any information she missed?’

“No, they both said quickly.

“Then you’ll be treated similarly.” I said. “Medical care for injuries sustained during interrogation. Reasonable imprisonment conditions. And if your information proves accurate and helps us stop Jerome, consideration for reduced sentences.”

I moved back to the center of the holding area, feeling exhaustion hit me like a physical weight. My hands were shaking slightly-adrenaline crash from

what I’d just done.

I’d tortured someone. Deliberately, methodically, using techniques my parents had taught me.

I’d broken bones, caused excruciating pain, threatened worse if she didn’t cooperate.

I’d become exactly what I’d been trying not to be.

“Xenois, Thome said quietly. “Are you okay?”

“No,” I said honestly. “But that doesn’t matter. What matters is we now have actionable intelligence. The coffee shop dead drop gives us a way to identify our traitor. The emergency signal gives us a way to contact Jerome directly. The information about simultaneous attacks lets us prepare defenses.”

At what cost?’ Thorne asked.

“At whatever cost necessary,” I said. “Thorne, I know you’re uncomfortable with what just happened. I know it go been building. But these people came for my family. For my children. And Jerome will keep coming unless we step

‘So we become as brutal as he is?’ Thorne challenged.

the progressive image we’ve

“We become effective, I corrected. “There’s a difference between torture for the sake of cruelty and interrogation for the sake of protecting incent

people. I didn’t enjoy what I just did. But I’d do it again if it meant keeping Lake and Riley and Ollie safe.”

Thorne was quiet for a long moment. Your parents would be proud,

“I know,” I said. “That’s what worries me.”

Medical teams arrived to treat the infiltrators. I watched as they stabilized broken bones, treated the silver poisoning, provided pain relief.

Not enough to completely heal them-they were still prisoners, still enemies-but enough to fulfill my promise of medical care in exchange fou

1/3

11:23 am P P

Chapter 487

cooperation.

M

Lynn was supervising the medical work, his expression carefully neutral. But I caught him looking at me with something like concern.

‘You have an opinion, I said. It wasn’t a question.

‘Not one you want to hear, Lynn said.

“Tell me anyway.

“What you did was effective, Lynn said carefully. “It produced intelligence we needed. But it also changed something. In you, in how others will see you. You can’t un-ring that bell.

“I know,” I said.

‘Do you?” Lynn challenged. Because I’ve seen what happens to leaders who start justifying torture. It becomes easier each time. The threshold for when it’s necessary’ gets lower. Eventually you become the thing you were fighting against.”

“That won’t happen,” I said.

“Every leader who’s ever gone down that path said the same thing, Lynn observed. “They all had good reasons. Protection, necessity, defending loved ones. But the result is always the same-you become harder, colder, more willing to hurt people to achieve objectives.”

Then I’ll have to be vigilant about maintaining boundaries,” I said.

“Will you?” Lynn asked. “Because I just watched you torture someone without asking a single question first. You went straight to breaking bones. That’s not interrogation technique-that’s brutality designed to establish dominance through fear.”

He wasn’t wrong. I’d started with violence before even attempting conversation.

‘She wouldn’t have talked otherwise, I defended.

“You don’t know that,” Lynn said. “You didn’t try. You made an assumption and acted on it. That’s not the mark of a progressive leader-that’s the mark of someone who’s stopped believing in alternatives to violence.”

I wanted to argue. Wanted to explain that Jerome had forced my hand, that protecting my family required methods I’d rather not use

But Lynn’s words echoed uncomfortably in my mind.

Had I gone straight to torture because it was necessary? Or because I was angry and wanted to hurt someone t

dy family!

I’ll be more careful,” I said finally.

“Will you?” Lynn asked again. “Or will you tell yourself that next time, when the stakes are high enough, when your family is threatened enough, when the situation is desperate enough-that torture is justified again?”

‘I don’t know,” I admitted. “But I know I’d rather struggle with those questions than watch my children get hurt because I was too principled to do what

needed to be done.”

Lynn studied me for a long moment. ‘Your parents would definitely be proud. I’m just not sure that’s a good thing

2/3

11:28

Chapter 487

He left to continue supervising medical care, leaving me standing in the holding area with Thorne and three tortured prisoners and the uncomfortable realization that maybe I’d crossed a line I couldn’t uncross.

“Boss,” Thorne said quietly. The interrogation specialist is in the observation room. He’s… concerned.”

About my methods?” I asked.

About everything. Thorne confirmed. ‘He said he’s seen battlefield interrogations, seen desperate situations, seen commanders do terrible things for good reasons. He said what you just did was one of the most efficient and brutal interrogations he’s witnessed.”

“Efficient, I repeated.

“His words,” Thorne said. “You got actionable intelligence in under thirty minutes using methods that most interrogators would take hours to build up to. It was effective. It was also profoundly disturbing to watch.”

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify