RIKA
"It's my fault," Sloane said, her voice cracking on the last word. Tears were already running down her face, her dark hair messy around her shoulders, still in that oversized tee she'd clearly slept in, or hadn't slept in. She was hugging herself with both arms like she was trying to hold everything together through sheer physical pressure. "If I hadn't asked you to go, if I hadn't sent you after Cade, none of this would have happened. Garrett wouldn't have— you wouldn't have been—"
"Don't." I cut her off before she could finish. "Don't say that. Don't even let that thought sit in your head, Sloane."
"Rika—"
"Cade was my responsibility." I looked at her directly, making sure she was hearing me and not just waiting for me to stop talking. "I do patrols at that school. It was alread
