Page 82 (1/1)
Her voice is flat, furious "A rebel ed to sneak onto the base Planted a bomb at Bravo Barracks, killed over thirty soldiers while they slept" She leans in, eyes locked on oes throughdown en mask ss my voice "Oh God, no I didn’t know You knoouldn’t--"
She’s gazing down at , soot and ashes streaking her face like war paint For a un and shoot uish in her face is so clear Then she breathes out slowly, dropping her head, and I realize she does know
"You have smoke inhalation and a concussion, but they won’t have had time to check beyond that," she says, softer, duller "Does anything else hurt?" She reaches out to run her hands downfor a wince
"I don’t think so" I ache all over, and I just want to close my eyes and let the pain carry me away It has to have been McBride, or one of his lackeys Everything’s spinning out of control, and I don’t kno to e to turn s "I don’t think I should be in a roouys wake up," I rasp My shirt’s been cut away, and there are electrodes stuck to my chest I can hear my heartbeat on the monitor besideher hand upthe sa up in the hospital
"Nobody here knoho you are," she replies "You were still in uniform" Her jaw squares, and I know this is another tiny cut, another betrayal that’s scored a line across her heart
"I have to get out of here" I shove the mask aside so she can hearworse"
She reaches for a bottle besidethe built-in straw so I can take a sip My throat burns as I s "Keep drinking this, it will heal your throat As soon as you can et out, for whatever you can do out there" She sets aside the bottle and reaches for an adhesive bandage fro it aroundMy heart skips What would I have said if soe down, expression grio Anybody wakes up, say you’re from Patron A new boatload came in yesterday, nobody knows their faces yet"
She turns to walk away, her purposeful stride reduced to a weary shuffle Even locked in a cell, beaten and bloody and tied to a post in the ground, she never let the steel go fro before she eases theh her, stripping away her strength, because it’s sweeping through ain when I wake, after a night spent choking down el that starts to healto be asleep to avoid questions I can’t answer Trying not to ione, covering forabout where I really a was McBride’s opening salvo, then all-out war could be breaking loose out there in the swaear it’s i other than a soldier, especially after staring down the barrel of her gun But she’s pulled a hard plastic chair up to ot her head pillowed on her ar any headache enough that she’s surrounded by only a faint aura of light
From what little I can see, she’s washed her face, but the soot stains are still there around her hairline, and she hasn’t taken off the filthy combat suit yet Whichwas the first stage of an assault I push down the oxygen e, if I don’t inhale too deeply So close, she srief, and I want to liftthe ache in my arm I don’t, and a fewher head
She blinks at me once, and then comes alert faster than seems possible She clears her throat "He’s dead The bomber Died in the blast"
I force myself to breathe in slowly The air reeks of disinfectant, sharp onwhat I don’t want to know It could be anyone from our camp I don’t want it to be anyone I know, not even the worst of them "Was it--" My voice is still a rusty whisper
"McBride?" Jubilee interrupts, saving erprints left, but the dental records say it’s a man called Davin Quinn There aren’t any arrests on his record, not so much as a fine He lived in town"
She pauses to let nificance of that In town Not a rebel, not a soldier with the Fury And I knew Davin Quinn, I know his daughter He’s not even a sy to do with us