“I didn’t mean that,” she said. “I was talking about something else. My shittiness.”

“Nah,” he said.

“This is not the time to be stubborn!” she raised her voice.

“Listen to her,” Sveta said. “Tristan. Listen.”

“I thought I had at least one thing going for me, I was a good cape. Did okay against Goddess, I’ve stood toe to toe with monsters. But then I go and fucking kill the people I’m trying to make fucking restitution to?”

“Keep making constellations, Tristan,” Sveta said. “Moonsong, if there’s anything—”

“I don’t—” Moonsong started. “I don’t blame you, Tristan. Believe me, if I had the slightest excuse, I would. I have no reason to be nice.”

“You don’t want me to turn into one of those monsters. That’s all.”

“Tristan,” Moonsong said. “Byron was the one who made the mistake. He was too slow.”

“I should have kept track of that. I shouldn’t have put that on him. He doesn’t need that on his shoulders. Fuck…” Tristan looked around. He created another constellation, to ward off another crack. A second drew close, and he backed away. “What happens to him if this gets me? I don’t want to be responsible for him becoming one of those things.”

“Tristan,” Sveta said. “You have me. We’re buddies. You have Rain. You have Kenzie. How she going to react?”

More and more, it looked like there were no spaces for him to retreat through.

“Tristan,” Moonsong said. “In what world would I openly blame Byron and not you? Think, you stubborn asshole!”

He backed off from the cracks. More constellations were drawn up around himself in every direction, to ward off six different fractures.

He spoke, and the sound of the cracking drowned him out. He looked at Sveta.

“If you want forgiveness, for what you put me and Reach through,” Moonsong said. “You’ve got it. If you want forgiveness for Tribute, you don’t need it, you’re not responsible. That was a bad situation. I forgive you.”

She watched as Tristan seemed to relax.

But the cracking didn’t stop.

He said something and was drowned out.

She saw the constellation around him change.

She could follow the direction of it.

“Tristan!”

He met her eyes, standing taller than she’d seen him stand all day.

The constellation came to life. Ruin and destruction, filling the mess of cracks, disrupting them. His body was thrown aside by the violent crash of concrete on concrete.

The cracking around them stopped.

“Sveta,” Byron groaned.

Moonsong ran over, joining Sveta.

“I can’t switch to Tristan,” he said.

Infrared 19.7

Kenzie laughed, and the laugh echoed across a vast, dark plain.

“Jesus,” Rain swore. “You scared me, doing that.”