Starglow Basin We don't wanna go home

She didn’t know when Soto appeared there.  Maybe he’d been there the entire time and she just hadn’t realized it.  He usually was, lurking around, though it wasn’t like she could speak with him well.  She wasn’t sure she wanted to learn more.  That desire had died too, despite her current (intermittent) use as his translator.

She didn’t push herself up.  If she tried to sit she’d be sick.

I should’ve let you die instead, she said, but there wasn’t much venom in it.  Just hollow loss.  That was it, right?  He was in charge.  It was his fault they’d been attacked.  It was his fault there’d been any trouble at all.  It was his fault that Niño… Octavio… was dead.

But he’d saved her life, so she couldn’t even be properly pissed at him.  Didn’t even have the heart to say it in his own language. This guy had been the boss.  But they’d both answered the call.  Maybe they were all stupid.

She stared at him, but didn’t say anything more.  The gang had grown while she’d been recovering.  He’d been busy, replacing them.  So now what?