CHAPTER TWELVEFlying into Disaster
I woke with the taste of blood in my mouth. Gagging, I rolled onto my side. Rough cloth brushed my questing fingers and I recognised a sensation of tepid warmth in the air. A mental check of my body found nothing broken, but the soles of my feet burned from the snow. My nose hurt and I sat up, remembering Galveston’s final backhander. I could account for little after that.
My chest felt empty and I sensed a hollow vacancy in the hive. I pressed deeper and discovered only silence. Grief and loss echoed around the abandoned chambers and I panicked. “My hive twin!” My cracked lips emitted a pitiful wail. Without her my existence loomed as an intolerable, endless torture.
“Estefania, don’t!” Galveston’s voice grated on my fragile nerves. A heavy hand touch
