Jia Li started to cry harder. She removed her hands from his face. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t want this to happen. I’m sorry I treated you so badly. I wish I could take it all back.” But she couldn’t. He was gone, and she was at fault. She may not have held the blade that killed him, but she had run away just like he’d told her to do. Fear had driven her farther and farther away, and by the time she’d realized she had to help him, it had been too late. She shouldn’t have left. She should have stayed regardless of his threats, but she’d acted like a coward.
Self-loathing burned through her, but nothing compared to the sadness she felt that Jack was dead. Sure, he’d been kind of mean, but he was also kind of funny. Kay obviously thought he was a good guy, and something he had said had made Jia Li feel the same about him. He had also been intelligent, and that was rare enough in the world that losing another one was terrible. Jia Li couldn’t bring herself to maintain the negative thoughts she had normally dredged up where he was concerned. She gripped his hand, wishing there was some way to fix this, but she was useless. She may as well have just been a human that could move through trees. She didn't have any special abilities that could save him.
“Why did you have to be such a damned martyr?” She wept.