ASHER'S POV
By the time we make it past the north gate, my back feels like it's about to snap in two, but I don't stop. Not once. I carry her all the way in. I carry her past the border guards who give me weird looks but don't say anything because they see the blood on both of us. I carry her through the main yard where a few of the other recruits are limping behind me, all bruised and bloodied, and no one says a word. They're too tired. Too confused. Too scared to ask anything.
The medic team rushes out the second they spot us. They take Rico off Jace. Someone else helps Cass down. I hear people shouting for stretchers, supplies, blankets. I hear all of it, but it sounds far away. Like it's underwater.
I'm still carrying her.
"Asher, you need to put him down," one of the nur
