I can do nothing but sit in a heap on the floor.

Tor stares, one brow raised. "Well?"

My stomach clenches so tight sweat breaks out on my arms.

Sadie. I'm so sorry.

"I have nothing for you." Are my words for her, or Tor?

"You didn't receive payment?"

He's so glib. So measured. It's infuriating. "I didn't complete the objective."

Tor ignores my growl and steps back to the console, pressing buttons and turning dials. He gazes through the doorway as the room beyond transforms.

"What did you do?" His voice is curious rather than condemning.

Perhaps that's what loosens my tongue. Or maybe I'm just too tired to keep fighting. I've shouted my innocence every step of the way, but no one listened. No one cared.

"He was just a baby."

Tor turns. "The dragon?"

Anger tries to boil, but I don't have enough energy left to rage. "Yes, the dragon. Agrihan was his mother. She must have known she was dying. She massed as much food in the cave as she could."

Tor blinks. "But if she was already dead, why not bring the trophy back and claim your reward?"

Why indeed?

It should have been an easy task.

"She was still his mother." And with those five simple words, the flood I've kept bottled inside me releases.

A storm of tears rages through me. I've tried to hold myself together for Sadie, to be so strong for her, but my Rebecca is gone. A monster stole her from me—from us—and I can never get her back. Being charged with her murder was like being stabbed after my heart had already been ripped out.

When I can finally pull myself together long enough to wipe my face and look up, I find Tor studying me.

"What?"

When he tips his head, it reminds me so much of the hatchling my insides twist.

"He's eating."

I look away from Tor's probing gaze. "Yes."

"How?"

"What do you mean, how? He's a dragon."

Again Tor ignores my growl. "He wasn't eating before you arrived."

Of course he would know. Foolish of me to assume otherwise. "Only cooked." I mumble, unsure if I'm disgusted, angry or defeated.

"What?" Tor steps closer.

Fury rips through me with such a sudden intensity it leaves me rigid. "He could only eat cooked meat! His mother died before she could cook it all!"

Both of Tor's brows lift. "And?"

"I showed him. I showed him how to cook the food so he could eat."

Tor is silent for a long time.

Then he nods. "And then you triggered your release."

I don't give him the satisfaction of an answer. He paces back and forth in front of me until I finally look up.

"You were so close."

His words torch the last of my hope to cinders. If I could have been stronger for a few minutes more, I could have gone back to my daughter. Yes, my visits would have been supervised, but they would still have been visits. I could tell her I love her. I could wipe her tears away. I could hold her.

Instead I threw it all away.

For something not even real.

"I'm a fool."

"No." The softness in Tor's voice startles me. When he looks at me, his eyes are still probing, but they're also filled with something I barely recognize anymore. "You're also no murderer."

Shock pours over me like a cold bath.

He believes me!

Tor presses another button, and the virtual reality room shuts down, the image of the cave and hatchling disappearing. On the other side of the room, another door opens.

Two men in suits and a woman in a dark skirt and crisp white shirt walk in. The woman is carrying a clipboard.

"Facilitator," the first suited man says to Tor with a nod.

"Warden," Tor responds evenly.

The warden turns gray eyes on me. I'm amazed a man in charge of a prison can look so neat and professional.

The warden turns back to Tor. "You're certain?"

Tor nods. "Never more. This wasn't even the most difficult simulation."

The warden takes a deep breath, letting it out slowly through his nose. He turns to the woman. "Please note the date and time, and the Facilitator's verification."

She scratches on the clipboard with a pen.

"Mister Tridaye, you are hereby released. All records of your case will be expunged. You're a free man."

I must look like a fish, gaping at him.

How is this possible?

He motions to the other suited man, who leads the way back out. They shut the door behind them.

"Congratulations."

I turn to Tor, but there are so many questions in my head I can't even get one word to come out.

He looks down. "I know. It's a difficult thing to process." He clasps his hands together before looking back up at me. "But we've found our methods incredibly effective."

"I don't understand." My fractured whisper reflects my state of mind more than the words. "You use ... simulations ... to determine guilt and innocence?" The idea is both horrifying and beautiful.

Tor waves a hand. "Along with measurements of brain wave activity, heart rate, pulse, breathing, body temperature, etcetera."

I'm gaping again. I know I am. "So the VR room is like, what? One big lie detector test?"

Tor smiles. It's the only time I've ever seen him smile. "A very sophisticated, very accurate one, yes."

Reality seeps into me one drip at a time.

They believe me.

I'm a free man.

"Sadie." This time, my whisper is filled with something I never thought I could regain.

Hope.

"We contacted her case-worker as soon as the simulation ended."

I can't process Tor's statement. I'm numb.

"She's in the waiting room."

Chills break out across my body. She's here.

Sadie is here!

Everything else falls away. We've lost so much, but we'll have each other. And that's all that really matters.