Chapter 10
I stay in my quarters until my growling stomach refuses to be ignored, spurring me to go to the mess hall to grab some lunch.
When I walk in, I find the room abuzz with the sounds of clinking utensils and loud chatter.
They’re serving wild rice and roast chicken today, with freshly baked bread.
I’ll never get used to how good the food is here.
I hesitate with my tray in hand, scanning the rows of tables. I spot Neema and Evlynne nearby. There are open seats all around them, but neither invites me to join them. When my gaze meets Evlynne’s, her lips tighten, and she turns away.
Okay then. I guess she’s one of the people poisoned by Fiona’s incitement fears, although perhaps not, given she wasn’t too friendly to begin with. Evlynne continues to intimidate me with her mere presence.
I feel her staring at me as I wind through the rows toward the back wall, where I settle at an empty table.
“May I join you?”
An embarrassing wave of gratitude swells inside me when Teriq approaches. “Sure,” I tell him.
“I’m glad I have you alone, actually,” he says, taking the seat across from me. “I wanted to talk to you about something.”
I pop a bite of chicken into my mouth, chewing slowly. “All right…”
“You knew my sister.”
“I did?” My brows crash together as I set my fork down. I remember thinking he’d looked familiar, but I still can’t place him.
Noting my bewilderment, he clarifies, “Betima.”
“You’re Betima’s brother?” I say in surprise, but now that he’s said it, I see the clear resemblance. Same wide mouth and black hair, same dark skin and dimples.
“She was my little sister. Three years younger,” he says, a fond smile on his face. “She was such a brat sometimes.”
“Was Betima her real name or an alias like Grayson had?”
“No, she was Betima. She didn’t need a cover. Gray did because his real name was reported to the Command a year prior.” Teriq’s lips flatten. “We had a traitor in our midst. A mole.”
“Shit. Did you catch them?”
“Yep. We plugged that hole real fast.”
I’m momentarily distracted when Gray’s friends pass our table. Saint and Henley, their stride confident, with Mako towering over them. All three men nod toward us in greeting, Mako flashing a big smile my way.
“New girl,” he chirps as they walk to another table.
“Did she suffer?”
Teriq’s question jolts me back to our conversation.
“No,” I assure him, sadness filling my chest. “She didn’t even have time to feel anything.” I swallow. “I thought he was about to shoot me. Roe Dunbar, I mean. The General’s youngest son.”
“Gray said they discovered she was Modified?”
“Yeah. She slipped up earlier that night. One of our fellows fell off a roof, and Betima was holding him when he died.”
Teriq sucks in a breath, realizing the implication right away. Betima was an empath, which means she could feel other people’s emotions. She felt that boy dying. I can’t even imagine how horrible that would be.
“That would have been excruciating for her,” he mutters.
“It was. And I guess as he was dying, her veins flashed silver and Roe saw it. He showed up later and cornered us, said he couldn’t have an Aberrant bitch roaming around.
I was panicking inside. I thought he was talking about me.
I had no idea he meant Betima.” My voice cracks.
“He shot her in the head. It happened so fast, I couldn’t have stopped it if I’d tried. ”
My appetite is gone. I reach for my water, gulping it down.
“Nobody blames you for her death,” Teriq says, curling both hands around his coffee cup. “If anything, it’s my fault.”
I gape at him. “What? Of course it wasn’t your fault.”
“I approved her assignment.” Guilt flashes in his eyes. “I was the deciding vote.”
I hesitate. I want to acknowledge his pain, ask him if he blames himself for her death, but I don’t want to make him uncomfortable. Maybe he’s like me and hates being vulnerable around strangers.
I decide to focus on practical questions instead. “I’m still trying to figure out how the voting works. Does the Authority hold a formal vote for everything?”
“Not everything, but all high-risk assignments require a vote. Sending someone directly onto the Command base is borderline suicidal. We never would’ve risked Gray if there’d been someone else to fly that plane, but the B-8 tech was too new.
No one else could do it. Still, we weren’t comfortable with him going alone, so we sent him in with backup. ”
I shake my head to myself. So Betima and “Kaine” had known each other that whole time? I never even suspected they were anything but strangers meeting for the first time. I wonder if I’ll ever be half as good an operative as they were.
“Adrienne and Gray didn’t want her to go in,” Teriq says, visibly swallowing.
“They think empaths are too unreliable. But I had confidence in my sister. She was a great shot, quick under pressure. If anyone could have backed Gray up, it was her. And I thought she had a strong shield. She was always able to fully control the empath tendencies.”
“I’m sure she could under normal circumstances. You had no idea somebody would die in her arms.”
Teriq stares into his coffee. “I should’ve voted against it. Sent someone else. I…” He swallows. “I got her killed.”
This time, I can’t ignore his pain. “I get it. It was my fault that Jim—Julian,” I correct, “was caught. I drew the attention of a Command soldier in my village, and that’s why they showed up at our ranch.
One of the officers recognized him.” I gnaw the inside of my lip.
“I’m the reason he was arrested, so…yeah…
I know what it’s like to feel like you got someone you love killed. ”
We both fall silent for a moment.
Finally, he clears his throat. “Anyway, I’ll get out of your hair.”
I almost beg him to stay, but he’s already pushing back his chair, leaving me to finish the rest of my lunch alone.
REPORT TO THE TEMPLE AT 09:00
The alert greets me when I wake the next morning, triggering a rush of trepidation. I’m supposed to train with Hawkins today and…well…he scares me.
A knock sounds on my door as I’m finishing getting ready. I tie my hair in a twist atop my head, then go to answer it, finding Gray standing there, looking quite handsome in a gray flight suit.
“Don’t hate me,” he says.
“What, you’re going to fake your own death again?”
His eyes twinkle. “No. But I will be off the base until tomorrow.”
“I thought you guys were going dark for a while.”
“We are. But Adrienne needs to go to the city. I’m her transport.”
“Please let me come,” I beg.
He just laughs. “No.”
“What am I supposed to do here on my own? I still don’t even have a work assignment.”
“Actually, you start this afternoon. You should be receiving the details on your comm soon.”
“Can I see Xavier today?” I’m starting to worry about him. For all I know, he’s in some torture chamber now, his skin flayed and fingernails shredded down to the nail beds.
“You can take that up with Kallister. But I doubt they’ll reward him with a visitor when he’s spent days refusing to talk.”
“Talk about what?” I say irritably. “He’s not going to spill all the Command’s secrets, if that’s what you’re hoping for. But at least give him a chance to prove he can be loyal to us.”
“He can prove his loyalty by selling out his former people,” is Gray’s response, and while I appreciate that, I also know Xavier would never reveal anything that might endanger Cross. Neither would I. “Like I said, talk to Kallister. Ade and I will be off the grid until tomorrow night.”
“Will you have breakfast with me before you leave?” I ask hopefully.
He looks like he’s trying not to laugh. “Sorry, cowgirl. Can’t hold your hand today.”
Once he’s gone, I duck inside to put on my shoes and grab my comm, sliding the device into my pocket.
When I step into the corridor, I think my brain has glitched until I realize, yes, that is a girl—a different one this time—sneaking out of Saint’s room for the second consecutive morning.
Once again, his veiled green eyes find mine, that half smirk appearing before he shuts his door.
In the mess hall, I grab a bowl of cinnamon oatmeal and a coffee. I don’t see any familiar faces, so I find a seat alone in the corner of the room.
I’ve barely taken a bite when Karra appears. She stands over me, arms crossed. Her expression isn’t quite antagonistic, but it’s not friendly, either.
“Morning,” I say politely.
She doesn’t answer right away. Merely watches as I chew my oatmeal. Finally, she slides into the chair across from me, almost too casual.
“It’s funny how secrets have a way of coming to light, isn’t it?” Gray’s girlfriend remarks.
I flick up a brow. “Who’s keeping secrets, Karra?”
“You, silly. Our newest operative.” She smiles. “Real exciting life you lead there, cowgirl. Inciting people. Kissing them.”
“I think you must be mistaken. I’ve never kissed anyone I incited.”
Her eyes flash. “Let’s not do this. Gray told me you hooked up in the Command.”
“Once,” I say, and now that I’m satisfied we won’t be having a bare-knuckle brawl, I resume my meal.
“I don’t care how many times,” she says with a shrug. “And I don’t care that it happened. Gray and I have a very…complicated relationship. We weren’t together when you had him. But we’re together now, so if you’re locked on him, I’m going to need you to unlock yourself, and fast.”
I shrug back. “Gray is a friend. I will continue to be friends with him.”
“Did I say you couldn’t?”
“Wouldn’t care if you did.”
That seems to amuse her. “Be friends with whoever you want, Darlington.” She stands, tossing her raven hair over her shoulder. “But if you touch him while he’s with me, I will rip your fucking throat out.”
At that, she winks at me and saunters off, her combat boots snapping sharply on the floor.
Good chat.