It takes me a few moments to process that. “When I pass out for three days after a bad jump—”
“There’s no way to regulate it?”
So how the hell are we getting off this rock?
I exhale shakily.
“That is not a word I’d apply to you.” He smiles faintly.
Oh, irony, you’re such a bitch.
“You look like your best friend died,” he says, dropping down beside me.
He misinterprets my gloom. “Look, they seem to think Dina’s going to make it. Cheer up, won’t you?”
“Nope. But this might help. We’re getting out of here. Two days, tops.”
Jael sighs. “Give us a little credit, will you?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means we have a plan. I
will
get you out of here, Jax. You have my word.”
My brittle smile softens into something close to real. “Yeah. I would.”
Sure enough, I have plenty of those.
“May not be a smooth run. We could die out there.”
“We could die down here. I know which
I
prefer.”
The woman has a point. I offer my hand. “I’m Jax.”
A faint smile creases her mouth. “I know who you are.”
“My name is Suraya, but my friends call me Hit.”
I have a feeling I’m going to regret asking. “Why’s that?”
Her smile widens. “Because I only ever need one to take someone down.”
“What’re you doing on Lachion?”
Her eyes gleam. “Done. I won’t forget this, Ambassador.”
“You’re the kind of person who makes things happen,” she says.
Two words. How can two words make me feel like this?
“You don’t mean—” I try to say, but my voice comes out strange and strangled.
Say it here, damn you. Right now.
“No,” he whispers. “I’m not. You’ll see me again, I swear. This isn’t forever.”
Tears course down my cheeks. I squeeze them shut, but it doesn’t help. They don’t stop falling.
Because I don’t believe him. I know a good-bye when I feel one.