na

me. I had left the key on

in, but I couldn't feel the cold anymore. My body was shutting down, system

n a ditch. I wasn't goi

l had been sent. The truth was out there, traveli

hough the Mind-Link was dead.

ight, but Rosa never really slept. She was an old Rogue healer, a woman who had seen to

My vision was tunneling, bla

ak sound, barely a scr

re, a shotgun in one hand, a dishrag in t

questions. She didn't ask for money.

thyme, and old paper. It was the first ti

ck room, laying me on a

a hand to my forehead. "It's done i

y voice was a wet gurgle

rm water and a cloth. She began to gently wipe the blood and

w. The moon was full,

me. The pain in my bones vanished. T

it?* I

ll the way down. My heart gave one

hu

en, no

eb

for the border patrol. The letters were swimming. *Since Elena

d; it was a sensation. It felt like a violin string snapping ins

chest. I fell out of my chair,

er, rushed in from the hallway.

hollow ache that had been there since the Severing Ceremony suddenly expan

hen John's phone buzzed. Then t

zed vibration

ing hand. My vision was blurry from

Elena (Sc

t: The

*My fingers

enial rose in my throat

with the Mind-Link.

le

blocked link. Not the

f an empty room. The

d, my voice breakin

blood on