Kira uncurled her fingers with a groan, stiff from the cold and the iron grip of Armin’s link. She reached Heron and sank to her knees, checking the girl’s throat. Heron’s pulse was faint and erratic. She put her hands over the wound, but it was a bloody mess, and she knew it was too late.

Heron’s hand reached up and found Kira’s, feebly grasping it with useless fingers. Her voice was a whisper. “If my life had no meaning, there was no reason not to end it.”

Kira gripped the girl’s hand tightly, her heart breaking. “So you ended it?”

“So I gave it meaning.”

Heron’s eyes fluttered and rolled back. Her hand went limp. Kira sobbed and held her, feeling the last of her life fade away.

DEATH

Chapter Fifty-one

CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

General Shon walked slowly up behind her and knelt in the snow at Kira’s side.

“I promised her I’d make this work,” said Kira. “I know it’s not going to be perfect, or easy, and for all I know it’s going to fail, but . . .” She clenched Heron’s hand in her own. “We have to try.”

Shon nudged Armin’s body with his glove. The man was limp and lifeless. “After listening to this bastard tell me it was impossible, I’m inclined to give it a shot just to prove him wrong.”

“There are worse reasons for saving the world,” said Kira.

Samm joined them now, kneeling by Heron’s side. He took her hand in his own, drawn short by the chains on his wrists, and watched her in silence. After a moment he looked to the east, toward the Partial camp. “Someone’s coming to check on you.”

“Must have heard the rotor,” said Shon. “I don’t . . . wait. There’s a whole group.”

Kira stood up, watching more shapes emerge from the snow. The man in the lead was walking stiffly, almost shuffling, as if he were sick. Kira took a few steps toward him and felt a rush of emotion as she recognized his face. “Green!” He waved, and she ran toward him, wrapping him in a hug. “You’re alive!”

“It worked,” he said, looking at his hands and arms as if they were new: strange, wondrous things he’d never seen before. “I . . . got better.” He gripped her by the shoulders. “I’m not a hundred percent, but . . . you saved me, Kira.”

Shon stopped next to him, staring in wonder. “Green?”

Green turned toward him and saluted. “I left the army, sir, but I’m ready to enlist in the new one.”

“What new one?” asked Shon.

“A Partial just survived expiration, and you’ve got twenty thousand more looking for the same treatment.” Green pointed behind him, at the massive wave of Partial soldiers, and grinned happily at Kira. “Is this where we sign up for the human/Partial alliance?”