Chapter 9: The Silence of the Ice King

The QRF arrived in a swarm of Black Hawks and lead. By the time we got back to Titan, the sun was setting, casting long, bloody shadows over the mountains.

I was sitting on the back of the Humvee, cleaning the blood off my hands with a wet wipe. Thorne was being loaded into a different ambulance. Before they closed the doors, he looked at me. He didn't say "thank you," but he didn't call me a witch. He just looked away.

James walked up to me. He was covered in soot and brass. He stood in front of me, blocking the sun.

"You disobeyed a direct order to stay in the vehicle," he said.

"I saved a Sergeant’s life, Sir."

James stepped into my personal space. I could smell the gunpowder on his skin. He reached out, and for a second, I thought he was going to hit me or pull me into a hug. Instead, he just took his thumb and wiped a speck of Thorne’s blood off my white jawline.

"You're going to get yourself killed," he whispered, his voice trembling with a raw, hidden emotion. "And I don't know what I'll do if you do."

He turned and walked toward the TOC before I could respond. He didn't look back.