The announcement system crackles to life, interrupting Raven midsentence.
“Attention, all base personnel.”
Kallister’s voice sends an icy shiver down my spine.
“As many of you have already heard, we suffered a tragic loss tonight. Mako Wilsen was killed in what appears to be a ridgehowler attack that also nearly claimed the life of Hawkins Jost. The circumstances are—”
What?
“Nearly” claimed the life of Hawkins Jost?
Hawkins is still alive?
I quickly poke Saint’s mind. I expect he won’t be able to link, but he surprises me by responding.
“Before you ask, I just found out.”
“He survived?”I say, dread shooting up my throat.
“Seems so. He had a weak pulse when we brought his body back. Brion tried to heal him, but he’s not strong enough.”Brion is one of the healers who lives in the valley. Kallister must have dispatched him to the Dagger after Fiona’s death.“He’s in the regen chamber, but we don’t know if that’ll work, either. There was a ton of damage to his throat.”
“He’s not awake, though?”
“No. Won’t be for a long while. The chamber currently shows a twelve-hour treatment.”
Twelve hours? Hawkins is in bad shape, then. A regen for a broken arm usually takes less than an hour. Cancer treatments, less than a week. Twelve hours is a long time for a wound.
“Is it awful that I hope he dies?”I ask Saint.
“No. We’ve all been hoping for that for years.”
“Did Kallister believe your story when you spoke to him?”
“Appears so.”
“ ‘Appears’? Can’t you plant a seed in his head telling him he believes you?”
“No. Persuasion doesn’t work on Kallister.”
That surprises me.“So you’ve tried it on him before?”
“A few times. It doesn’t work on everyone. Planting ideas is an art. You can plant the seed, but that doesn’t mean it always takes root.”
I’m desperate to learn more about this ability of his, but I know now is not the time, so I don’t object when he breaks the link. I try to focus on the rest of Kallister’s announcement.
“…a memorial service tomorrow afternoon to honor Mako’s life, along with our dear Fiona and all the other lives we lost during the attack on Bramble Base. They will be greatly missed. For now, I ask that you respect everyone’s grieving process but remain focused on your duties.”
The PA system clicks off.
I need to talk to Gray. Saint. Maybe Tana, too. We have to figure out what to do about Kallister, but nobody is getting back to me. As I slip under the blanket, I send Gray another message, but it goes unanswered.
Just as I resign myself to the fact that he officially wants nothing to do with me, a knock sounds on my door.
I hurry to answer it, emotion flooding my chest when I see his face.
He looks tired. Sad. But still handsome as ever. He doesn’t make a move to touch me, so I simply back up and let him enter.
“Sorry, did I wake you?” he says roughly, peering past me at my rumpled covers in the glow of the bedside lamp. “It’s barely ten. I didn’t think you’d be—”
