But the gray is coming back. Darker now. Skye must have given me something.
The edges of the world are getting soft.
The last thing I hear before I go under is Lily's voice, crackling through a radio somewhere in the vehicle:"Is Julianna awake yet? Tell her I figured out who 5's partner is. It's not 5. It's 5's twin. Because 5 plus 5 equals 10. 5 has a twin, which means it's always got a friend. Tell her, okay? Tell her."
The secondary site is a farmhouse.
I don't see much of it. Just glimpses. A gravel road, a wooden porch, hands lifting me from the vehicle. The sky is gray. Early morning, maybe. I've lost track of time.
They put me in a bedroom. A real bed this time, not a cot. The sheets are white. Someone has hung blackout curtains over the windows.
Skye works on my side for what feels like hours. Cleaning. Stitching. The local anesthetic makes it bearable, but the pull ofthread through flesh is something I'm fine never experiencing again.
"You're lucky." She shakes her head as she repeats the warning. "An inch to the left and we'd be having a different conversation."
"I'm not lucky." My voice sounds wrong to my own ears. Thin. "I'm the reason Phoenix found us. They traced the ASHFALL handshake signature. When Halo ran the framework tests."
"We don't know that."
"I do."
Skye finishes the last stitch. Cuts the thread. Begins applying a dressing.
"You took a bullet for Lily." Skye lays out the truth with quiet professional detachment. "Whatever else you've done, you put your body between a child and a weapon. That counts for something."
"It doesn't balance the scales."
"Maybe not." She smooths the tape over the dressing. "But it's a start."
The door opens.
Thorne stands in the doorway. He's cleaned up—different clothes, no blood visible.
His expression is too still. Not calm—contained. Like everything volatile has been forced down behind bone, muscle, and sheer control.
"Give us a minute." He doesn't look at Skye.
"She needs rest."
"Give us a minute …Please."
Skye hesitates. Then she gathers her supplies and slips past him into the hallway. The door closes.
Thorne doesn't move. He stands at the foot of the bed, looking at me. His hands are at his sides. Still. The way they are when he's in control.
"You left the safe room."
"Yes."
"The door was locked."
"I overrode it."
"How?"
"Manual release. Behind the sink panel."
His jaw works. "That's supposed to be for emergencies."
