“What did happen?” Rune asked softly. All the anger seemed to drain out of her and she slumped over her knees, looking more exhausted than I’d ever seen her, even on the alien ship when we’d spent full nights fighting the AI to direct it where we chose.

Our eyes met, and I winced. Rune was angry. She was every bit as angry as I’d feared she would be; she was just showing it in a different manner. But I knew her well enough by now to read her emotions, to see the betrayal in her gaze. Next to her, Imani watched me with suspicion. She hadn’t known Matt, though, and couldn’t have the same investment in the situation as the others. I drew a deep breath. “The alien jumped down the stairwell,” I said. As the words passed my lips, I relived every horrifying moment: the creature’s scream as it lunged, Matt’s answering yell, the clatter of claws, Cage’s panicked calls for me to shoot. “I . . . I’ve never been much of a shot, but it was hurting Matt. Killing him, I thought.” Unless I was wrong? Was it merely paralyzing him, planning to put him in stasis with the others? “I had the gun,” I said, and my voice locked in my throat. My mouth formed words, but no sound emerged, my vocal cords catching and tangling into knots.

“I yelled for her to shoot,” Cage filled in quietly, his gaze locked on Mia’s. “Before that thing tore Matt to pieces.”

I drew strength from the support, from the reminder I wasn’t alone in this. “I pulled the trigger,” I managed, struggling to keep my voice steady. “I still don’t know what happened next, whether it moved at the last second or I just missed. But Matt went down, and the alien chased us.” I nodded at Rune. “Then you electrified the floor and killed it. When we returned to Matt, we realized what had happened.”

“And I pulled him into sector four and told Kenzie to lie about it,” Cage interrupted, his voice strong and clear. How did he sound so confident in this situation?

Jasper scowled. “The worst thing about all of this is you’re not even sorry, are you? You’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

We all turned to Cage, even me. I had no idea how he’d answer.

For a moment he seemed to consider it, meeting each of our eyes in turn. Then: “Yes,” he said. “You’re right. If it meant saving Kenzie’s life, and maybe all of yours, if it meant stopping you from killing each other when we had a horde of alien creatures on our tails, then yes. I would tell you a thousand lies if it meant getting you to safety.” He sighed, some of his confidence draining away. “But that doesn’t mean I’m not sorry.”