Inara sat next to Cole on the couch just outside the burnt out Infirmary, eyes closed in fervent prayer. She had one arm around her son’s shoulders as she prayed, and she leaned her chin close to his head. His body was cold and still, his eyes staring vacantly forward. He didn’t lean into her, didn’t pray with her, didn’t respond. When she reached the end of her prayer, she kissed the top of his head, and started again from the beginning.

The incense she’d brought didn’t cover the smell of ashes, burnt flesh, and spilled blood. They’d barely done more than throw a towel over the mess, but Inara couldn’t leave Cole sitting there another minute. If it were a job gone wrong, she could’ve blamed herself, but this was nothing they’d brought on themselves. It would’ve been just as dangerous sitting planet-side in a cozy cottage or elegant mansion.

Cole’s left hand twitched in his lap, and Inara reached over to take it. He didn’t react, so she just held on, dropping her prayer to the volume of a whisper only he could hear. Inara had special prayers for all her children, and they each knew their own by heart.

It started as the prayer her mother had prayed over her when she was a child, but Inara had tweaked it over the years, creating a unique prayer for each of her kids, because each had unique needs for blessings. For Zoë, she prayed for connection and a sense of family. Little Zoë too often isolated herself, forgetting that family was more than blood. For Cole, she prayed for protection. He took too much after his father, being adventurous and daring. He had more broken bones to his credit than all the other kids on Serenity combined – except now with Michael … For her youngest, Michael, she prayed for peace, quiet, and rest in his mind. It’s what he always needed.

Michael had been groaning earlier, but they didn’t have any sedatives. She’d touched his face and said his prayer until he’d fallen asleep, then returned to Cole. She wanted to get her boys out of this dungeon, but Cole was too big to carry thes