Page 112 of Echoes of War

She fell back into my hug, not ready to let go. “Everyone’s either dead or missing,” she said, her body now trembling from the cry she tried to keep from breaking through.

My heart stopped. “What … Riley?—”

“No,” she cut me off before I could let my mind go there. “Everyone else I care about is gone, just not Riley. Who knows about Rex.”

I hated that for her, but I hated the relief that fell through my chest more. It wasn’t fair. She had lost the people she cared about, yet I found relief knowing my people weren’t one of them. Her parents had always been warm toward me, welcoming me into their home, inviting me to be part of a nuclear family in the moments I missed it the most. But they weren’t my people, they were hers, and though I felt sorrow for them … they weren’t Prescott, they weren’t Riley. They weren’tmine.

“What are you talking about? What’s going on?” I peppered her with questions, my mind spinning at all the answers I needed, that she was taking her time providing. She was young. I understood this was a lot, so I tried to slow myself down. Elie was not one of my soldiers. She was just a girl.

Alexiares’swift movement caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. I saw his hand grab his knife, but Suckerpunch intervened.

He paused, taking notice of his son’s resistance. “Who the fuck are you?”

A frail, blonde child peaked her head out from the cave I’d designated as Elie’s safe spot and I found myself on the defense too. Elie let out a huff, her arms crossing over her chest.

“That’s Emma.” Elie glared. “She followed me out here after I told her to leave me alone. She’s too pussy to?—”

“Am not! I killed that one over there.” The girl exited the cave, closing in on Elie quick. A blue and silver Taurus waved in her small hands.

“Woah,” I said, placing my hands up in between them. “Okay, everyone chill out. Elie, explain.”

Elie cracked her neck, shooting a sad glance back in the direction of The Compound. “We were attacked a few weeks ago. I was out in the field with Riley and Prescott when?—”

“And why were you in the field with them?” I interrupted. None of this made any fucking sense to me, and I had a creeping feeling that I’d have more questions than answers as she went on.

Her thin dark brows rose as she continued, “Because Riley said it was important for me to learn to protect myself and others. But that’s not?—”

“Riley said what now?” I growled.

Alexiares cut in, an amused smile pulling at my protectiveness. “Let her talk, Maia. She can’t answer you if you keep interrupting.”

I sighed, head tilting back and curls dusted against my shoulder from my fallen messy bun. My teeth chattered from both the chill of theLa Ninawinds on this cliff and the sense of overwhelming rage that grew the longer we were here.

“We were out mappin’ the minefield when thattraitor’speople attacked us. Riley got me back safe, closed the gates, actually. What we didn’t know was that the fisherman’s dock was blown while we were gone. They were forced to abandon ship and row out near the beach closest to North Gate.”

Her breath caught, and I gave her a few moments to process. I knew this was a lot for anyone to take in, let alone someone who’d spent most of her time within the safety of The Compound.

“The first wave of the attack hit them before we even knew they were in the area. My father was on that ship. Riley took me out to search the next day, but there’s no sign of him. Only half the bodies remained on the shore. Mom refused to believe that the waves took him. She went out searching. Riley told her not to, that he’d send some of his men out to do it for her, or at least go with her. She refused, said there were better places his men were needed. Of course he listened,Riley the All-knowing.” An aggressive chuckle left her body.

Elie had certainly changed from when we last spoke. She’d gone from the cheerful, bouncing girl who never wanted to leave my side to someone that harbored so much … resentment. She seemed furious—with Riley, with me, with the world. I couldn’t blame her. It happened to the best of us, that coldness that took root within. I’d stupidly hoped it wouldn’t happen to her.

“Sometimes I wish you stayed,” she continued. “Sometimes I think taking responsibilities as law instead of having a heart is just dumb. Mom never came back. I … I thought maybe she came to our spot, but she’s not here. Her stuff is here, but she’s not.”

I turned, peering past Alexiares and Emma into the cave. Her mother’s belongings did, in fact, sit there. Elie would never find her mother, because her mother was lost to the sea. Woman’s clothing sat folded up neatly next to a pack, a rose gold wedding band placed on top. A pair of hiking boots and socks were on the other side.

I didn’t have it in me to tell her that her mother had jumped.

Something else caught my attention, Alexiares noticed, too. He walked over, lifting up the ruck packs above his head to show me. I didn’t need a closer view to understand.

Guiding Elie closer to Alexiares, I attempted to refocus her on the immediate threat. “Elie, those are Covert bags. Did you check the rest of the area?”

“I’ll go see if there’s any of those fuckers hiding,” Alexiares said, dropping them with a soft thud against the earth’s floor.

“I tossed them over the cliffside before the Pansies came. They’re all dead,” Elie muttered, eyes on the bags, shifting between them and her mother’s belongings.

“No, they aren’t.”

What a sweet, soft voice responsible for such ominous words. Emma’s gaze remained fierce despite the attention now on her. “When I was following you, one scared me. Tried to pull me from the bushes. He’s over there.” She pointed, gun still in hand. “I cut his heels. They way my mom showed me, how she used to.”

---