“I contacted Command and called off the attack. I told them about the civilians. They didn’t care. They ordered us to leave.” I swallowed down a fresh wave of rage and pain. “I gave my squad a choice, and they chose to stay with me. We tried to disable the explosives before they could be detonated, but we failed. Three of my squad died in the blast. Another died from her injuries as we fled.”

Torran’s expression didn’t change, and I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. Perhaps this would be the thing that caused him to renounce the life debt and leave Starlight—and me. But now that I’d started, the story spilled out, an unstoppable torrent of words.

“We dragged ourselves back to where the transport was supposed to be waiting, but it wasn’t there. After I disobeyed orders, Command removed our escape route without telling me. It took us ten brutal hours to find another way off-planet.”

“How did you do it?”

“We stole a Valovian ship. The Feds nearly shot us down before they realized I had the correct FHP protocols. I went to Command—to Commodore Frank Morten, as a matter of fact—and turned in my resignation on the spot. Eli, Kee, and Lexi did the same.

“But Morten isn’t stupid, and he used the expedited discharge to secure our silence, with the understanding that if any of us spoke about what really happened, we’d quietly disappear, along with everyone else on the team. Then the Feds paraded me around as a hero to really rub salt in the wound, knowing that I had to grin and bear it.”

Torran’s power hummed against my skin and his eyes glowed silver and teal. I stood my ground, but remembered fear whispered at the edges of my mind. Had I made a mistake in trusting him?

“Frank Morten is dead,” Torran growled, dark promise in his tone. “I will see it done, you have my word.”

Before I could protest, Torran wrapped his arms around me in a gentle hug, tucking my face against his shoulder. “Thank you for telling me,” he whispered into my hair.

I tried for a casual shrug even as my tears dripped onto his skin. “You deserved to know, but I’ve put the safety of my team in your hands. Please don’t break my trust.”

His arms tightened around me. “Never,” he vowed quietly.

The next two days passed in increasingly stressful increments. We’d passed through the first wormhole without being challenged, but I decided to wait until we were safely in Fed space before talking to my team about continuing the hunt for Morten and the telekinetic. We were already under enough stress, and there would be time to talk later.

Assuming we made it.