Page 227 of Silver Elite

“Cross, she shot herself. This could be staged as a suicide.”

“Go to your quarters, Dove.”

He severs the link.

Fuck!

Frustration burns a path through my veins. This isn’t fair to him. Itisn’t fair to Xavier, as annoying as I find him. They shouldn’t be fixing something that I broke.

I force myself to follow his orders. I strip out of my uniform and step into the bathroom. I crank on the shower and then stand under the warm spray, trying not to cry.

I like to think I’ve grown since I got here. I’ve learned to be more patient. I’ve learned to trust someone other than myself. I’ve even started to rein in my impulses. Sort of. Sometimes.

But it feels like all that progress was erased the second I incited a woman to kill herself.

I rest my forearm against the tiled wall and press my face into it. My body feels weak as I’m struck with a bleak, depressing truth.

I think I might be a monster.

I made a woman kill herself.

How are those not the actions of a monster?

With a choked sob, I force myself to get out of the shower and wrap a towel around myself. In my bedroom, I put on a bra and then slip into a pair of boy-cut underwear. As I’m brushing my hair, I find an alert on my source. Lyddie, saying she’s on her way to get ready with me.

I forgot we planned to do that. But there might still be time to head her off. Her quarters aren’t in this building, but near the admin wings all the way across the base, which is quite a trek if she’s not driving.

I’m about to send a comm telling her not to come when the door swings open.

In our earlier exchanges, I told her to let herself in.

Shit.

Lyddie saunters in wearing a sweet white dress with a scoop neck and pleated skirt. Her bright smile lights up the room. “Hi!”

I’ve never been more grateful for a pair of underwear. They cover my bloodmark in its entirety.

Panic lodges in my throat when I realize how close I came to having her walk in on me naked. Cross was right. It was a careless decision to let Ellis heal me.

Lyddie notes my expression and giggles. “Someone looks frazzled.”

Someone is about to have a nervous breakdown.

I manage to paste on a smile. “Sorry, it’s been a chaotic day.”

“Aw, well, don’t worry. Soon you can forget all about it. Tonight is going to be so much fun,” she chirps. “I love parties.”

“Can’t wait.” I force another smile, trying to suppress the worry gnawing at me. “My dress is hanging in the bathroom. Let me put it on and then we can do our hair—”

“Wren! Your scars!”

Her gaze falls on my bare legs, eliciting a loud gasp. When I try to keep walking, she hurries over and tugs on my arm.

“They’re gone!”

Discomfort prickles my spine. “Yeah. They brought in this healer…” I trail off.

“You let an Aberrant healer touch you?” She narrows her eyes.

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