Page 184

He turned his head toward the window. “You are making assumptions.”

“Then tell me I’m wrong.”

He didn’t.

I waited.

The only sound was the hum of the ship’s systems beneath our feet.

Something heavy settled in my stomach.

“Veyr.”

“You do not understand.”

“No, I don’t.” I turned toward him more fully. “But I understand what guilt looks like when somebody dresses it up as responsibility.”

His gaze snapped back to mine. “Be careful.”

“I am.”

“No. You are not.”

“Maybe not.”

The room felt smaller.

The air heavier.

“But you keep talking like surviving created a debt.”

His face went hard. “It did.”

There it was.

Finally.

Not duty.

Not service.

Debt.

I stared at him. “Why?”

“Because they died.”

“That doesn’t answer the question.”

“They were under my command.”

“And you think that means you were supposed to die too.”

Silence.

My chest tightened. “Veyr.”

“I was their commander.”