By the time I finished, I had a knot in my chest, and Tegan’s hand rested on my hair, not petting, just making contact, like she knew it was all about to overwhelm me. I hadn’t grasped that it still hurt so much, but the ache lessened as I fell quiet. Sharing helped. “So that’s why you left. That sounds pretty horrible, Deuce.” “It was,” I said softly. “I just didn’t realize that while it was going on.” She sighed. “Because you weren’t raised to know better.” A verbal reply was beyond me. So I nodded. “In the ruins when you told me to give Stalker a clean slate, I hated you for it. But I
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