Page 27 of Resurgent

“Captain, I’m so sorry. I didn’t—”

“No. This is on me. Korr said you usually sleep at this time, so I planned to drop something by for you to find when you woke up. I guess he got his times wrong.”

How does he know when I sleep? He’s always at class when I take a nap, and I’m back up and moving before he gets home.

“He didn’t, I am. Well, I used to be. I stopped taking those medications today, so I didn’t get the usual drowsiness.”

“All of your meds?” she asks, brows raised in confusion since every one of my instructors was given a generalized copy of my healing plan when they were asked to put together my out-of-class lesson plans.

“All but my antibiotic.”

“From what I hear, those were prescribed by some of the best healers in the Kingdom. So…why are you going against their medical advice?” Her voice isn’t harsh, just…curious.

“I’ve never liked taking medicine, and addiction runs in my family, ma’am. I took them as long as I needed to, but now I’m ready to get back into my routine so I can get back to classes.”

The edge of her lips lift, and I can feel her pride from here.

“Guess I got here at the right time then, because I brought you something—” she lowers, pulling a standard-issue pistol from her ankle strap and handing it to me.

“I was worried you might get bored—or rusty— with all this downtime. Glad to see I was wrong,” she says, her hand now carelessly rubbing the drying blood from her throat.

The weight of the gun in my hand feels natural, the years of shooting back in South Hollow and the months of doing it here in Vanguard and Ghost Walking making me feel like an appendage I didn’t know was missing has finally been returned.

I pop out the full magazine and rack the slide back, a single bullet already in place.

“Thank you,” I say, a grin breaking across my face like a kid on Solstice morning.

“You’ll also be needing these—” she says, pulling four neon-orange pucks from her hoodie pocket. “Set them up in a rectangle around where you want to be target shooting. They will keep the noise contained so you don’t raise any suspicion.

“Hunter, I mean, Captain Korr has assured me he has plenty of ammo and targets for you, but if you need more, tell Reyes, and I’ll give him more during class.”

A flicker of irritation stirs in my chest at the way she says his name. Who hasn't he flirted with behind his girlfriend's back? Judging by the quick correction, I doubt Lin even knows she exists.

“I will, thank you.”

She gives a slight nod before turning to leave. I watch as she crosses the room with effortless grace, already avoiding the creaking floorboards that had alerted me to her presence minutes ago.

Her hand wraps around the handle, but she pauses before pulling it open.

“No matter what happened, it wasn’t your fault; I hope you know that. You aren’t alone in what you went through…” her voice trails off, and I fight for what to say in response.

Before words find me, she continues, her voice rough and shaky in a way I’ve never heard, “Don't let what they did become the cage you live in. I made that mistake for far too long, and I nearly lost myself because of it.”

She takes a deep breath and straightens her shoulders. Even with her back to me, I can hear the smile in her voice when she speaks again. “They took a moment, Annalise. Not your future. So burn so fucking bright they'll never get close enough to touch you again…Well, I guess that's more so no one else can.”

For a moment, confusion leaves me speechless. Then a small smile tugs at my lips, and I'm wiping away tears I hadn't even realized were falling.

The door is almost shut behind her before I shout, “Thank you…again!”

Chapter eleven

Mystery Man

Sitting in the chair in the dark corner of her room, shadows swallow me whole, allowing me to watch Annalise sleep without the fear of her seeing me if she were to wake. The window behind me is cracked just enough to let the night air drift in, stirring the curtains in slow, rhythmic waves. The cool, crisp breeze brushes over her face, lifting strands of her hair, but still—she doesn’t wake.

The first time I stayed, it was an accident; that’s what I told myself, anyway.

Now it’s been weeks, and I know better.