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“Where’s Antares?”
Atkins’ quiet voice answered, “He was not there.”
“What do you mean he wasn’t there?” Hamal was angry. She knew he thought the Soldier had abandoned her, his neglect a direct cause for her injury.
No one but Dee had the answer, and her voice seemed to be missing.
She focused, willed speech around the pain of Antares’ death, and the burning agony of her injury.
“Dead.” It was all she managed to get out, but it was enough. The silence that settled told her as much. Her eyes were closed, refusing to meet the stares of everyone who surely wanted a better explanation.
“Dee? What happened?”
Hamal remained close despite his depositing her on the long bench seat across from where they’d entered the plane. She would have told him not to hover if she’d had the will to o
