Rain took more time to get out of the passenger seat. He moved like an old man, shutting the door, letting a backpack fall to the ground by one of the car’s wheels. He had a black eye, his ear was swollen and scraped up, and his face looked asymmetrical in a way that suggested swelling on one side, with no distinct source. His knuckles and fingers were badly scraped up, with tape covering up some of them.

He was wearing a raglan tee with black sleeves, and jeans so old that they must have been as soft as sweatpants. The knees were worn through, and the knees beneath were speckled with scabs.

“You’re hurt,” Kenzie said.

Rain nodded.

“Did you get attacked?” Chris asked.

Rain shook his head. “Not by Snag’s group.”

It was hard, to pull back and watch. I’d tried for the call with Dido, stepped back to observe, letting Tristan take point with directing the others. He was good at it. Sveta being the one who had struggled had pulled me in a bit.

I wasn’t sure strict objectivity was the way to handle this, but getting too close didn’t help either.

That line of thought got me thinking about how I hadn’t ever really had to watch my back. Not among those I considered allies. Not among friends. Not among family.

And that, in turn, made me think about my sister, and the sick, hollow, angry experience of being betrayed by someone I’d thought I could trust more than I trusted myself.

I stood across from Rain and I felt like I had in the bank. The bank had been dusty, partially my fault, the floor scratched up by the passage of giant dogs, littered with discarded pieces of paper and dropped belongings. It had been dark, the rain pattering outside.

Much like Rain stood by the front of the car, hurting, his life in danger, my sister had stood a distance away from me, a knife to her throat.

Following that there had been the revelation of secrets. It wasn’t that I held Rain close to my heart or anything. It wasn’t even that I particularly trusted him. Only that I recognized the pattern.

“Shit,” Rain said.

“If you’re going to draw this out, at least tell me this isn’t you explaining everything and dropping something heavy on me,” Tristan said.

“No big news for you,” Rain said.

Tristan nodded.

“You’re going to tell us what’s been going on with you?” Sveta asked.

Rain looked at Erin. “Yeah.”

“She’s tied to this?” Sveta asked.

“Yeah,” Rain said. “Kind of. She could walk away free and clear if she wanted, I think. She knows most of my situation. Not all.”

“I’m moral support,” Erin said.

“No,” Rain said. “Because there’s stuff you don’t know. Kind of. It’s complicated.”