Chapter 14
A sense of anticipation hangs in the air as we veer away from the fire toward a deserted section of the clearing, but the excitement is edged with something sharper, a bite of hostility.
I don’t like Evlynne, and she doesn’t like me, which probably isn’t the best recipe for a shooting competition.
At a party. At night. While buzzed on grange.
“All right,” announces Mako, “this is far enough, boys and girls. Let’s pick our targets.” He’s designated himself the referee or taskmaster or whatever the heck this is as he crosses his thick arms and examines the area for suitable targets.
I’m not afraid of shooting in the dark, but I do worry about firing my weapon during a party. Anybody could be walking through the woods right now on their way to the bonfire.
“Nah, static targets are boring,” I say. “Let’s go airborne.”
Evlynne falters for a second before hardening her expression. “Excellent idea.”
Mako purses his lips in thought. “Well, we don’t have any clay pigeons lying around, so…” He scans the area. “Guess we’ll have to make do with good old-fashioned rocks.”
He crouches and gathers a handful of smooth round stones about the size of a child’s fist. His grin widens.
“Really? Those are huge,” Evlynne says in a bored voice. “This will be easy.”
“Who’s up first?” Henley asks, his posture relaxed as he slides his hands into his pockets.
“I’ll go.” Evlynne gives a dismissive flip of her ponytail and holds out an expectant hand toward Saint, who passes his rifle.
Mako holds up the rock enticingly. “Ready?”
“Do your worst,” she says.
Without warning, he tosses it high in the air. The rock spins as it shoots upward, creating a perfect target.
Evlynne fires and—bang.
The shot echoes in the night, and the rock shatters into several chunks, flying in all directions. Small fragments rain down on us as the pieces hit the ground.
She turns to me with a self-satisfied smirk.
I shrug, then snap my own rifle upward when Mako whips another target into the sky. I take aim and pull the trigger.
The rock explodes in midair.
I’m gratified to see smaller, finer pieces floating down, indicating I hit the target dead center. Evlynne notices, too, because the corners of her mouth tighten.
“Nice,” Mako says, and she glares at him as if to say, How dare you compliment her.
“Give me another,” she mutters.
A second later, another gunshot booms through the clearing. She only connects with the bottom of the rock this time, and I can tell the less-than-perfect angle burns a hole in her gut.
On my turn, I once again obliterate the target. White shards briefly become visible under the light of the moon before the night becomes dark.
Saint looks impressed, nodding at me.
Neema, of course, scowls as if I’ve personally offended her, then tries to catch me off guard by hurling a stone into the air before she even calls my name. Unfazed, I throw the rifle up on my shoulder and annihilate the target.
Evlynne nails her next shot, allowing her to feel smug again.
Then I nail mine.
And she nails hers.
And on and on it goes until Gray finally interjects with a grin. “I say we call it a draw and go back to getting boozed. Because I know from experience that Darlington can go all night.”
Karra’s eyes blaze, and he realizes at the last second how bad that sounded.
“Shooting, I mean,” he assures her. “We ran a ton of shooting drills in the Program. They would fly us out to the desert and make us shoot for hours.”
His girlfriend’s expression is cloudy as she says, “Can I please speak to you alone?” and in a singsong voice, Mako says, “Uh-oh, I think somebody’s in trouble.”
“Shut up, Mako,” she snaps, but when she tries to drag her boyfriend away from the group, he frowns at her, locking his boots in place.
Handing the rifle off to Saint, Evlynne folds her arms across her chest and focuses on me. “We all know you’re a good shot, Darlington. That was never in dispute.”
Uh-huh. So this little pissing contest was just for fun? It’s no secret that Evlynne fancies herself one of the best snipers at the Dagger. She was trying to upstage me tonight. It just didn’t go the way she’d hoped.
“Then what’s the problem?” I ask her, my tone cool.
“The problem is, it’s bad enough we have one inciter on this base that we can’t fucking trust. Now we have to deal with two.” She jabs her finger in the air in front of me. “Stay out of my head.”
“I have no intention of getting in your head.” I’m so frustrated, I want to scream.
I look at the others, imploring them with my eyes.
“Same goes for the rest of you. I understand, okay? You can’t protect yourself from me.
But I promise I will never incite any of you.
Ever. And if I do, I give you permission to kill me. ”
Evlynne sneers. “Forgive me if I don’t believe you.”
I swallow a sigh. This is futile, especially with the new knowledge that shields don’t protect against incitement. Of course they’re distrustful of me.
“Some people might be impressed with your powers, but we’re not,” Neema chimes in, because of course she does.
“I’m not trying to impress you, Neema,” I say, turning away from her.
I’m jolted backward when Evlynne grabs my arm.
“Hey, we’re not done here.”
I sure as fuck am. “Don’t touch me,” I warn, shrugging her hand off me.
My blood is boiling, fists clenching involuntarily. I’m seconds away from knocking her and Neema on their asses.
As if sensing that, Saint moves closer, ready to intervene if needed. Our gazes lock for a second. I feel Gray watching me, too. I’m sure both men can see me trembling with anger.
Walk away.
I heed the thought, recognizing what a terrible idea it would be to fight these girls when I’m trying to earn their trust.
Exhaling slowly, I unclench my fists and step back from the group. “I think I’m going to call it a night.”
“What? Don’t feel like talking anymore?” Evlynne mocks.
“Oh, shut up, Evlynne.” I hear Luisa sigh.
I’m halfway down the slope when footsteps sound behind me, pebbles cascading along the ground as Gray finally catches up to me.
“Wren, wait. Are you all right?”
I shrug. “I’m fine.”
He falls into step with me. “I’m surprised you walked away. That’s not a Darlington move.”
A reluctant smile breaks free. “What would a Darlington move have been?”
“Remember when you beat the shit out of Kess from Silver Block after she mocked you about your uncle?” He grins at me. “That’s a Darlington move.”
“Maybe I’m maturing.”
“Well, that’s boring.”
We head down the path, guided by the moonlight. I can’t shake the weight on my shoulders, the depressing realization that I might never win over everyone here.
“I wasn’t lying up there, by the way,” I say, avoiding his eyes. “I don’t plan on inciting anyone, not if I can help it.”
“That’s why you need to control it. It’s too dangerous otherwise.”
I’m well fucking aware of that. My ability to incite is always lurking just beneath the surface like a silent threat.
Like a wild animal that could break free at the slightest provocation.
Why couldn’t I have manifested any other power?
I’d even prefer to be an empath, and I hate feeling smothered by other people’s emotions.
But this, I hate so much more. Incitement makes me feel like an outsider.
“I don’t know if Kallister told you,” Gray says, “but I volunteered to be your lab rat for incitement training.”
“I heard. Are you sure you want to take that risk?”
“Wouldn’t have offered otherwise.”
“When did you want to start training?”
He glances over, shrugging. “How about now?”
We go to his quarters because he has more space, settling on opposite ends of the couch. I sit cross-legged and rake both hands through my hair to tuck it behind my ears.
“Why are you letting me do this to you?” I ask warily.
He rolls up his sleeves, making himself comfortable. “Because you need to train, and you can’t do that without working with someone.”
“Hawkins said no one wants to train with him.” A glum breath slides out. “And I see the way everyone looks at him. Nobody even goes near him in the mess hall.”
“Well, Hawkins is a different case. He incited someone a couple years ago, and it cost him a lot of people’s trust.”
I blink in shock. “Who did he incite?”
“His girlfriend.” Gray pauses as if deciding whether to go on. “He incited her to jump to her death.”
The air leaves my lungs in a sharp gasp. I search for any signs that he’s joking, but he’s dead serious.
“On purpose?” I demand, still reeling.
“According to Hawkins, it was an accident, but not many people believe that. Ev and Neema, in particular. They don’t buy his story at all. But Zoe was their best friend, so their judgment might be clouded when it comes to her.”
“What does Hawkins say happened?”
“He says they were arguing, he and Zoe. She told him she couldn’t stand the sight of him or something, and apparently he lost his temper and said, Fine, then jump off the fucking cliff if you don’t want to see me anymore, and…
” Gray trails off. “It was a thirty-foot drop. Zoe didn’t survive.
” There’s another pause. “It’s hard to imagine how he could’ve ‘accidentally’ compelled her to jump off the ledge. ”
“Incitement can happen by accident,” I hedge in, but Gray doesn’t look convinced.
I suddenly feel an odd kinship with Hawkins, because if his girlfriend’s death was the result of spontaneous incitement, I can sympathize.
“Anyway,” I say, changing the subject, “should we begin?”
I expect a playful remark, maybe a wink, but he only grows more serious. “Before we do, I need you to promise me something.”
“What is it?”
“I’m training with you because I trust you, but you have to promise you’ll never use incitement on me without my consent. That’s my only caveat.”
My mouth falls open. “Of course I promise. I would never do that to you.”
“Good. Then let’s start. We need to decide on a command for me. How about…” He flashes a cocky grin. “You can incite me to undo my pants.”