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“I don’t know,” Shade said

“What did I do back there? People were screa I think I did that, didn’t I? Did I hurt those people?”

Shade again sought Cruz’s eyes in the

Cruz said, “You have a power, Malik I think, maybe, you can” Shade heard her hesitation She knew, and Cruz knew, that she was pronouncing a type of death sentence “It seems like you can project pain Shade and I felt it It wasunbearable Like being on fire Your pain, I think Somehow you can inflict it on people Inabout with frosted glass, like we kneas there, but it didn’t quite get to us”

Malik’s voice was childlike in its hurt and disbelief “You mean I hurt people?”

“Not hurt, not injure,” Shade said quickly “It’s just pain”

“Just pain? Just pain?” Malik said, and suddenly began to cry

Shade had never seen Malik cry It seemed at once i, but he was a decent huuys And noas a good person who could cause terrible pain to others

“Is it still happening?” Malik asked, his voice a child’s sob

“No, it stopped,” Cruz assured him “It was a few seconds, maybe a minute It may be

so you can, you knowuse”

Everything about this conversation rong, like walking through a psychic minefield

“Use?” Malik said “Like torture? That’speople pain?” The childish tone was falling away, replaced by growing outrage “I’ to live the rest ofI can do now is hurt people? That’s my life? That’s what I am now?”

The words were on the tip of Shade’s tongue, but she would not say I’ht the words h some stupid words would lessen the enormity of what had happened

What had happened because of her An apology would be a request for forgiveness, and she neither wanted nor deserved forgiveness