Page 43 (2/2)

"I knoho they were" Her voice cracks I wish I could go through this for her, spare her "They were all looking atthat way" She tips her head in the direction we’ve been traveling, toward the mountain pass and the wreck beyond

"You could see the ht hit, they disappeared" She pauses to s, her voice tightening and breaking again "One of the any boots"

It takes me a mohten my hold on her "They’re not real, Lilac I believe you saw them, but you know you hit your head e landed Once we’re back in civilization, it’ll be the work of a moment to fix this For now, I need you to pro you see You could get hurt"

She goes still I wonder if she was expectingthan voices in her head "Tarver, how many people did you bury in that pod?"

"We didn’t kill theuilty about what happened--"

"There were five of them, weren’t there?" She pulls back to look up at e, the blue of her eyes nearly drowning in the black Her gaze is so raw it’s frightening "You didn’t let me see them How could I know that? Tarver, don’t you see? I’ haunted"

I don’t kno to deal with this You can’t reason with insanity, and you can’t bark orders at a girl who’s not a soldier I keep up the cal ain "I’m sure I told you how many people I buried" But we both know I didn’t "Even so, five’s a reasonable nu, Lilac I want us to have plenty of time this afternoon to find a safe, warm place for camp Let me have the canteen, I’ll heat some water"

As I reach for the canteen, she pulls away fro as she puts distance between us "There were tomen," she says evenly "The one with no boots was about s"

So my throat, and for the count ofto re it up She’s seeing ot the idea in her head

But she’s not done "The other teredress"