He found me at the tributary.
I had been coming back here more frequently as the modified activity clearance allowed it — the specific quality of moving water, the particular light this time of year, the way the pack bond felt slightly different at the water's edge than it did inside the compound walls.
Marcus sat beside me without announcement.
We had been doing this for months now — the specific ease of two people who had worked through enough of the hard history that sitting together no longer required organization.
"Darius said to tell you myself," he said.
I looked at him.
"From the testimony," he said. "There was something I realized. About you. I told him and he said—"
"Tell her yourself," I said.
"Yes," he said.
He held his gaze on the water.
"The damage I did was real,"
