Kira touched a spot on the inside of her elbow. One such thing suddenly felt unbearably heavy.
She was at a crossroads. Go with Roake and let them fix her. But then, who knew how long it would take her to get the data she'd downloaded from the Nexus to Odin.
Or don't go with them and seal her fate.
What a choice to make.
"How long does she have?" Jace asked.
Shandry shrugged. "It's difficult to say. Five to ten years maybe. Less if she keeps abusing herkithe way she is."
Raider made a derisive sound. "Your notion of immediacy needs work."
He wasn't wrong. The Tuann life span hadn't been definitively confirmed but she knew they lived for hundreds of years, perhaps longer. To them, ten years would feel like a blink of an eye.
Kira lifted her chin. "I've been beating impossible odds my whole life. Nothing says I can't do it again."
Shandry made a scornful sound. "Your ignorance is going to see you dead."
Kira bared her teeth at the healer and leaned forward. Satisfaction filled her as the other woman flinched. "It's my life to risk."
"You're going to do this," Jin said calmly.
Kira sent a hard glance at him. "You don't speak for me. I don't care what our history is."
No one had that right.
"You're going to give them a chance," he continued as if she hadn't spoken.
"You overstep." There was a threat in Kira's voice.
Jin swung around to face her, pointing his eye at her. "They're giving you a chance the rest of the forty-three didn't have."
Graydon shifted, interest in his expression.
"And you're going to throw it away because you're afraid they'll make you care again," Jin accused.
"This isn't the time for this conversation." Never would be Kira's preference.
"You lied. You said there wasn't anything to worry about." Grief and rage boiled in his voice, enough so the Tuann across from them looked at him with interest.
Most saw Jin as a machine; he wasn't. He had been a person once. A boy like her who, after being mortally wounded, had somehow attached his soul to a military-grade combat drone.
Kira's mouth clicked shut as she stared at her friend, guilt a boulder in her chest. Her gaze dropped, and she rubbed her forehead. Her reasons had been sound, but that didn't change the fact she'd lied. Something she'd said she'd never do with him.
"You're going to do this for me. You're going to give them a chance," he said in a calm voice that belied the upheaval she could sense through their bond.
Kira started to protest. She'd do a lot for him, die if necessary, but this was asking a bit much.
"Elise isn't the only one you made promises to," he hissed.
Kira flinched. Her mouth snapped closed on what she'd been about to say. The resulting silence had a weight, awkward and horrible, as she forced herself to keep her eyes up and her attention on her friend.
Next to her, Raider had stilled as he watched the two of them with barely veiled interest.
"You promised me things too," Jin told her, his voice grave. "You don't get to leave because you're afraid. I know you better than you know yourself. You're going with them, and you're going to let them help you."
"And if I don't?" she forced herself to ask. She had to know.
