Rune looks stunned.
“You could go. Go and have your pissing contest with Pious. I’ll stay here and help them.” My voice sounds steady, considering the fury of anger that’s building deep inside me.
He suddenly looks younger, self-conscious—like I’ve given him something to think about.
“Jex,” he calls out, but his glaze is still fixed on mine. I can tell I’ve bruised his pride, by the furious glare he’s giving me.
“Sir?” Jex says, stepping closer to us.
Rune clears his throat. “Help these men to safety. We will wait until they are fully healed for our next move.”
“Yes, General.” Jex’s glance darts back and forth between the both of us. “Sir,” he whispers low, “the Core would be the best place. We wouldn’t be found.”
For a heartbeat Rune continues to stare at me, then his attention flicks to Jex. “Take them. Set them in the Main Gate of the Core and have them upload with their sensors off. Let’s be careful not to alert Pious to our whereabouts for as long as we can.”
Silence falls over us as we watch him gather the wounded and help them back into the sliding walls.
When there is no one left but me and Rune he asks, “Do you truly think so poorly of me?”
I move away from him, toward the sliding wall. “I don’t know what to think about any of this, least of all you.” I slip back the secret panel, but he softly places his hand on my arm, stopping me. I hold my breath as he leans in.
“There’s something I don’t understand—and I need to.” When he speaks it’s in soft quick whispers, so close his breath fans out against my cheeks. “Why did you help them? Why would you do that after everything they’ve done to your world?”
I pull away, meeting his gaze. Would he understand? I’m honestly not sure, but I tell him anyway. I don’t even know why, maybe I want to give him a small piece of the humanity he’s been missing.
“When I was little, my dad was a soldier.” I shake my head, remembering. “He was never home, he was always overseas, fighting for things I never fully understood. Not until now, I guess.” Once again, my vision blurs. “There was this one time Claire and I were on a video call with him and as we were talking,” I took a deep breath, “some gunfire or explosion blasted out behind him and…well, he thought he ended the call with us…but he didn’t.” I look up at Rune, trying to see if he understood.
“What happened?” he asks.
“I saw everything. My dad clipped his phone on his shirt and he went to help. The thing was—this wasn’t someone on his side—it was just another human being in pain, suffering—and my dad, without even thinking about it, he just saved him.”
Rune watches me quietly.
“That’s the kind of human being I want to be. A kind one.”
Suddenly his fingers, free of armor, touch my cheek, and his thumb softly wipes at my tears.
