“Kauss?” I whisper.
“I don’t know.”
That is the worst answer in the galaxy.
I am out of bed before I remember standing. “Where is he?”
“Last anyone saw, heading toward Lenrog.”
“What?”
“Evie, listen to me. The settlement got hit bad. Sabotage. Water through the floodgate. People hurt. Al’s alive but critical. Mira’s got triage near Kesto’s alley.”
“Kauss is alive?”
“I saw him standing.”
Air crashes into my lungs so hard it hurts.
Then Darlene keeps talking.
“He looked bad.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means I told him not to go full Horus, and he went anyway.”
I shove my feet into boots with shaking hands. “Where is he now?”
“I said Lenrog.”
“Why didn’t he call me?”
Darlene’s face tightens. “Because he’s a dumb, noble, grieving idiot.”
The answer hits too close to last night.
I love you.
It is a big step.
The memory opens under my ribs, but fear is bigger than heartbreak now. Bigger than pride. Bigger than anything.
“I’m coming,” I say.
“Bakery first.”
“No.”
“Yes. Honey, you listen to me.” Darlene’s voice hardens, old steel beneath smoke and exhaustion. “The bakery has people coming in scared, hurt, and looking for you. Nara needs hot water, blankets, food, clean towels, and somewhere to send survivors after triage. If you run into the city blind, you help nobody and maybe get yourself taken again.”
“I need to find him.”
“And I need you not to be stupid in the first five minutes of a disaster.”
I hate her for being right.
I hate her so much I almost cry again.
