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She was supposed to be brave But the girl was only eight years old, and she wasn’t brave, and when the operatives froet her, no one had bothered yet to clean the blood from her hands

FLYNN’S GRIP ON MY WRIST is ice-cold and unyielding I try to focus, to understand where we are, what’s happening--h the checklist that’s been drilled intostock of the situation, location, hostiles, injuries, obstacles…It all blurs together, s He breaks off froh a narrow fissure in the rock, the stone scraping es where there are none; I see the hospital bed where I left Flynn, I seeto take a patrol boat to look for hi in h my own veins When I close my eyes I see the cavern, painted with blood,Blood like art, declaring victory over the Fianna, the hardened, ht back Blood glues our hands together, Flynn’s and mine

All I can see is that child, half curled under another rebel whoto shield it I don’t know if it was a boy or a girl I don’t know--I don’t know

My body sags with the weight of the eht of what I’ve done My knees give way and I go down, dragging at Flynn’s hand He’s forced to halt, nearly jerking eton the smell of blood onin my limbs; now I knohat the Fury tastes like Blood "Stop--Flynn, please Let theritted teeth His face is unreadable

He won’t listen to ue with hioing to die for it

I drag runts with effort, or pain, or acknowledgment, and we set off down the corridor once more

The shakes hit -lev train, ten times worse than on the island Flynn showed me to the east Worse than afterlike that No part oftold me how to comprehend the ht and cold, like Flynn’s hand around h the narrow bands of panic and horror Everywhere I look I see blood, sht down my nausea, si for Flynn’s life from people who think he’s turned on the, the point at which I can’t function--exhaustion, shock, guilt, and grief tangled together It’s like a rapidly approaching cliff, and I know that if Flynn pulls ain

I wish he’d just let the would be easier than this

And then he does pullfro--and then we hit frigid water It closes over , gasping for air where there is none, the vacuu around her There are no stars, because there are never any stars here, only a thick darkness that rushes down her throat and into her heart She dreahher forward Di to find soh the same crack I pulled Jubilee into Silent but for soft splashes, we disappear into the dark

I can almost feel Orla with me as I find my way to our rock She had me rehearse the route so et here with my eyes closed if there was ever a raid The rock is about six feet long and only a couple of feet above the water Not even Sean knows this secret

I pull Jubilee closer in the water, inspecting her face There’s stillnot to recoil, I cup a hand under Jubilee’s chin to turn her face toward htly around her, afraid she’ll sink beneath the water if I let go Her eyes open when I squeeze her

"Jubilee, are you listening toaround in the darkness, panicmy voice as quiet but tense as I can

Her eyes widen, and I watch as the soldier takes over, her chin lifting a little

"This rock here is hollow inside I can pull you, but e go under you have to hold your breath Understand?"

She nods again, lifting one hand to rest it against the rock for balance and leaving a red sh to wash the blood away

I suck in a lungful of air, ain The water closes over uide her in with me The water carries the distant shouts of , inside my tiny shelter There’s only a small space that’s water; the rest is the natural rock and the ledge Orla built for e