Chapter 28 HUNTER
HUNTER
I WANT TO STAY here in this moment forever, hidden from the rest of the greenhouse by vines, Cleo’s arms twined around my neck, her body curved to fit mine. I want to hide from everything except the girl in my arms – press pause on the outside world so we can linger here.
But instead, I make myself focus as she speaks softly in my ear, her breath setting off fireworks underneath my skin.
‘We have to get a message out somehow. Can you get access to the system, if your sister trusts you?’
I swallow hard and let myself run my hand down her back as I think.
‘If I had her cuff, I could do it. I got a look at the displays it was throwing up – I think it’ll have a master override.
If I had that, I could send a distress signal.
I could send out a warning telling the other colonies to cut themselves off from the UN’s outside command channels, turn off their emergency protocols, so nobody could trigger anything remotely. ’
Cleo’s whispering again, and I have to close my eyes to focus on what she’s saying. ‘The best option would be to swap your cuff for hers, instead of stealing hers and leaving her wrist bare. She might not notice right away if we replace it with something, give us some time to send the messages.’
‘Okay,’ I murmur, my brain starting to spin back up to full speed. ‘So how do we get her to take it off voluntarily?’
‘And ideally somewhere there won’t be a heap of witnesses,’ Cleo adds. ‘None of them trust us. Sabrina will do the right thing by me if she can – she’s not a killer – but she’ll save herself first.’
I can’t help myself. I drop my head to find the soft skin of her neck, kissing my way down to the place it meets her shoulder. She shivers in my arms, and my breath catches.
‘Concentrate,’ she whispers fiercely, though the hand she lifts to push my head away is half-hearted at best.
‘I am,’ I reply, running one fingertip slowly up her spine.
‘On crime,’ she clarifies.
‘I do my best thinking like this,’ I murmur against her skin.
I can’t have found this girl just to lose her.
That can’t be how this ends.