Page 15 of Ash Fall

No. Absolutely not.

I have nothing to apologize for. Gage, Torrin, Reid and Jules were there when I had to figure out how to live without my family. They picked me up every time I fell apart, and I did the same for them. Whatever my feelings for them have become belongs to me. I don’t owe Mars anything.

A fist pounds twice against the back wall of the cab, and Charlie's voice carries through the slats. "Gate's ahead, two minutes out. Everybody get ready and remember, you're all miserable prisoners, so look the part."

Bernie lifts his spatula in a grim salute, and I have to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing. The people around us don't need much encouragement to look frightened. Foster checks the gag around Thenton's mouth while the corporal glares at everyone from where he's restrained on the floor.

I turn toward Torrin and immediately stop thinking about anything but him. He looks terrible. His skin has gone pale, and the fingers holding mine are trembling slightly. He’s about to walk into a compound filled with armed men and use his new ability again, and none of us has really stopped to ask what using it is doing to him.

I squeeze his hand. "Hey, look at me. How bad is it?"

"It's just a headache, love." His mouth moves into a smile, but his eyes still look exhausted. "Bit of a loud day for the old brain, that's all."

"Torrin Ashford, I have known you for five years, and your accent gets thicker every time you lie to me. How bad?"

That gets a real smile out of him. He rests his head against the slats and exhales. "It takes effort every time. Telling someone to stop or stay still doesn't seem too bad, but breaking whatever my father put in their heads is different. The first few were easy. The last group wasn't. My hands haven't stopped shaking since."

His thumb moves over mine once.

"And if there is a limit?" I ask. "What happens if you hit it halfway through that warehouse? We don't know if this is just tiring you out or actually hurting you."

Gage shifts closer on my other side. "Then we stop treating this like Tor has unlimited power. None of us knows what the limit is on this magic stuff or what the cost is."

Torrin frowns at him but Gage keeps going.

"You handle the two guards at the gate and get them to bring your father outside, then you shut him down. After that, we stop and see what condition you're in. If breaking Ashford's orders is the part taking the most out of you, you don't do it to another twenty soldiers. You make your father remove the orders himself."

Torrin gives him an amused but tired look. "So you've already decided how much magic I'm allowed to use?"

"Yep."

"Good to know."

"Somebody has to, because your current plan appears to be keep going until you fall over."

Torrin shakes his head with a tired sigh.

Gage squeezes my hand before looking back at him. "We don't know enough about any of this yet. If you start slurring, swaying, bleeding, or anything else that tells us you're done, then you're done. We figure out another way."

Torrin nods reluctantly. "Fine."

"That sounded sincere."

"It wasn't."

"Didn't think so."

A smile pulls at my mouth despite everything. This is what I missed when they were gone. They don't just show up when something goes wrong. They watch out for each other. Gage sees Torrin pushing too hard and immediately starts planning around it. Torrin listens even while complaining. Being between them with both their hands holding mine makes my body finally stop bracing for the next bad thing for a few seconds.

The truck slows, and gravel pops beneath the tires. Every conversation in the back dies as we turn toward the warehouse.

Through the slats, I get my first close look at the fence. Chain link runs in both directions with coils of razor wire along the top. Floodlights rise above the yard, ready for the dark. Two soldiers stand near the rolling gate with rifles slung across their chests and one begins pulling the gate open as the trucks approach while the other starts walking toward our tailgate.

Radio static comes through from the cab before Charlie's bored voice follows. "Sweep team four coming in, two trucks, thirty-one collected, over."

"Copy that, four. Hold for a count. Simmons is walking back to you."

The people sitting around us go very still. Nobody has to fake being afraid anymore.