I sense an emotion from her. Fear.

Fear of hurting me, of seeing me captured, of seeing me killed in this place. The emotion washes over me in a wave, and it is such a familiar feeling, that it takes everything in me to remember she is no longer the same person I once knew. She is a weapon of the Federation now, a danger to us all. I tighten my grip around Caitoman’s neck. His hands clutch my arm in vain. Some of his soldiers step forward, uncertain what they can do to help their commanding officer, but he just moves his head stiffly at them.

Then, from behind the lines of soldiers, I hear Constantine’s voice drift to us. “Let him go.”

I turn my head to see his familiar silhouette framed against the backdrop of Newage, his form frighteningly thin, shadows darkening the skin under his eyes. If he is concerned for his brother, I do not see it in his steady gaze.

“I do not take orders from you,” I call to him in Karenese.

“I am not ordering you,” Constantine replies. “I am telling you it is the only way to save you and your friends’ lives.”

I glance over my shoulder. One look is all it takes to tell me that we have lost this battle bitterly. Jeran is nowhere to be seen. Had his father taken him down? Aramin struggles in the grip of Karensan soldiers. Adena has been forced to the ground, her cheek pressed hard into the dirt. Two other young Strikers lie dead near the tracks. The circle of soldiers around us presses tight, and the shrieks of Ghosts pierce the air as they shake their heads restlessly after the heat of battle.

You think you have a shot at slowing the Federation down; you think you’re ready. And then you fall.

“Come back, Redlen,” Constantine says, “and let me fix your wings. They must hurt you.”

As if on cue, I feel the pain of the twisted steel against my back. I turn my stare to Talin. She looks at me with a pained expression now, and as we face each other, she gives me a subtle shake of her head.

Please, she says to me through our link.

I hear the word echo in my mind, a presence that I’ve missed for so long.

A lump rises in my throat at her presence in my thoughts. I strain to hear more, but nothing else comes.

And in a rush of grief, I understand how the Federation knew we were coming today. Talin. Somehow, she must have seen through my eyes what we were planning. The link between us must be more intact than I thought. And if she knew about it, she must have been helpless against passing the information along to Constantine.

She is—I am—the reason behind this trap.

I don’t want to hurt you, she tells me now.

I know, I answer her gently.

Release the General, she says, gesturing at the other Strikers, or you will see them bleed to death right here.