I crouch behind a jagged section of rock, breathing carefully through the pain in my side while the others settle around us.
Below, the valley stretches wide beneath the afternoon sun.
Empty at first glance.
Meaning absolutely nothing.
Empty only means they haven’t seen us yet.
The little girl beside me curls deeper into her blanket, dirt streaked across both cheeks.
I brush some of it away gently with my thumb.
“You’re doing so good,” I whisper.
She leans against me instantly.
Trusting.
Like I’m safe.
My throat tightens unexpectedly.
I almost got her killed.
All of them.
The thought slams into me hard enough to make my stomach twist.
No.
Don’t do this right now.
A shadow falls beside me.
I already know who it is before he speaks.
“You’re pushing too hard.”
I keep my eyes on the valley below. “I’m doing what I need to do.”
“That’s not the same thing.”
I finally glance up.
Big mistake.
Russ is watching me with that same intense look he’s had since the moment I got shot.
Too focused.
Too personal.
“You don’t get to decide that,” I whisper.
“I do when you start collapsing in the middle of a mission.”
“I didn’t collapse.”
