Page 66 of Heartless

I didn’t care enough to argue. We were both covered in Hive blood, both exhausted.

I pushed the fighter hard and fast, scanning just far enough ahead to keep us from flying nose first into an asteroid or floating debris. I hoped.

“Commander, this is Enzo. Please respond.”

Helion flipped on the comm next to his head. “This is Helion.”

“The base has been cleared.”

“Casualties?”

“Three. All ReCon.”

“Captain Mills?”

“Negative. He made it. He’s in medical. Nothing that won’t heal.”

Three dead, my fault. My fucking fault. Helion told me my sister wasn’t on that base. I should have listened.

“Is Captain Arcas with you?” Enzo asked.

“I’m here.” Why did he want to talk to me?

“Our system has been scanning the data we recovered from the lab.”

Everything inside me went still as I waited. A new voice came over the comm.

“Oberon, it’s Bastion. Amalia was here. She’s listed in their fucking reports.” His voice cracked and I knew.

Iknew.

“She died the second day. They were apparently exposing the females to different atmospheric gases, and she didn’t make it. None of them did. Seventeen females, fourteen Prillon, two Atlans, and one hybrid from Rogue 5.”

“Fuck!” I slammed my hand down on the ship’s control panel and shuddered. She was dead. Had been dead for months. I’d been afraid to face the truth, too fucking stubborn to let go.

Pain sliced through me, but it was not as sharp as it should have been. I’d been chasing a dream, a fool’s hope. I’d been lying to myself, but part of me knew the truth.

Elite Hunters were never wrong.

Two days? Those fuckers had killed her in two days?

Willow had been in that lab for two years.

Two fucking years.

“I’m sorry.” Kayn looked at me. There was no judgment in his eyes. “I hate knowing. I hate telling family members even more.”

“Fuck.” I looked back at Helion, who remained silent. He was right. He’d been right the entire time. “I should have helped you blow that fucking base into dust.”

“Perhaps. And perhaps we will acquire information stored in their systems that leads us to a major victory.”

What the fuck did he just say to me? Was he trying to appease me? Erase my guilt?

“I was wrong, Helion. Three members of Captain Mills’ ReCon team are dead, and the Nexus unit has Willow.”

“You were wrong. You refused to give up. You loved her.”

Fuck yes. I did. I’d held her in my lap when she was barely knee high and told her stories. I’d scared off young warriors who took note of her beauty. I’d danced with her on her birthday and laughed when she stepped on my toes. When she’d been scared because I joined the Coalition Fleet, I promised her I would live forever.