When I link with Cross to tell him I’m in the air, his relief ispalpable.“Stay away from the wards for a while,”he warns.“Travis will be out for blood over this.”
I feel a pang of worry but try to mask the response because I sense Tana’s gaze on me.“He’s not going to blame you for this, is he?”
“He already does,”is his terse response.“I requested this assignment after I heard about the relocation, offered to facilitate the transfer and make sure it went smoothly, and only hours later an Uprising unit breaks them all out? Travis doesn’t believe in coincidences.”
Fuck.Fuck.It didn’t even occur to me that I might be putting Cross in danger by passing the intel along to the Authority.
“How can I help?”
“You can’t, Dove. Just get to safety.”
The flight is the longest thirty minutes of my life. I’m on edge the whole time, expecting the Command air fleet to blow us out of the sky, but we make it over the Blacklands without a hitch. Tana remains silent for most of the flight. It isn’t until we near the mountain that I feel her trying to link with me.
“Who were you talking to?”
Her suspicious tone makes my stomach drop. I open my mouth to lie, but I can’t bring myself to deceive her. I’ve lied to Tana by omission before, but never to her face with a direct question.
I notice her sensing my inner turmoil, and her eyes take on a hint of contempt.“Someone helped you.”Her gaze remains fixed on me.“You knew how to open that cell door because you were given the code. By one ofthem.”
Finally, I find the courage to answer.“If that’s what happened, does it really matter? You’re free.”
She shifts her head and stares straight ahead, going silent again.
As the mountain opens for us and we descend toward the runway, I reach for her hand. She stiffens.
“I know you hate me,”I say silently.“But I’m glad you’re safe.”
Tana’s expression softens, her voice sliding through my mind.“I don’t hate you.”She pauses, and I watch in dismay as her brown eyes become disapproving again.“But if you’re working with one ofthem…if youtrustone of them…I could never hate you, Wren, but I don’t know if I can trust you.”
A welcome team waits for us in the hangar when we land, only not all of them are welcoming. As Fiona and Teriq swiftly carry Declan off to the medical bay, I glimpse a blur of motion from the corner of my eye, turning just as Evlynne pounces on me.
It’s like getting hit by a truck, the force of it rattling my teeth and throwing me onto my ass. Her fist nearly connects with my face before I roll out from under her, scrambling away in time.
“What did you do to Neema?” Evlynne screams, lunging again.
Someone grabs her and hauls her away from me. It’s Saint. He locks his arm around her torso, but she’s not struggling anymore, just heaving for breath. Her gray eyes have a wild glint to them, but I also see pain. Grief.
She peers up at Saint, her face collapsing. “I told you not to take her. Fucking quat got Neema killed.”
“Neema drove into a force field.” I meet the mission lead’s eyes, hoping he can hear my sincerity. “Your intel was wrong. The force field was fully operational.”
“I know,” he says grimly. “Declan reported.”
Anger rises inside me as I turn back to Evlynne. “See? How the hell is that my fault?”
“Maybe they started the force field because they knewyouwere going to be there.”
She’s grasping at straws, and if it weren’t for the anguish lining her face, I might feel more indignant.
Instead, I keep my voice calm and even. “Neema was ahead of us. She didn’t have time to stop when we realized the field was on. Declan would’ve died, too, if he hadn’t managed to swerve at the last second. It wasn’t anybody’s fault.”
I don’t know whether she believes me, but she doesn’t try to attack again. She shrugs Saint’s arm off her and stomps toward the air lock.
Beside me, Tana glances around the hangar, uncertain. The other prisoners we rescued tonight were transported to the valley, but Tana was a last-minute addition. I doubt anyone will be making another flight out of the Dagger tonight.
I squeeze her shoulder. “You can spend the night in my quarters and tomorrow we’ll—”
“No,” Gray interrupts. It’s the first word he’s said to me since I stepped off the plane. “She’ll spend the night in the medical bay. She needs a wellness check.” He nods at Saint.
