CADE IS DEAD.
Lisha failed to comprehend the thought, even as her little brother's body lay in Eve's arms. He was too small, too weak, to be subject to the galaxy's cruelties. For a time, Lisha had a quiet belief that he couldn't die. Children didn't die. Not for real. There had to be some sort of failsafe in place to prevent such a thing. Lisha would have died a thousand times before she let any harm befall Cade, though that wouldn't do him any good now.
She could still feel his head cradled in her hands as he died. The boy she'd waited for the school bus with, who never failed to put a smile on her face after a long day of work. She realized she'd held him the same way she'd held him as a baby, back before her mother had been shot and killed herself.
Dad did this, she thought. If not for him, Cade would never have gone near the Sovereignty building.