21 Roman
Roman
I shouldn’t have been surprised to see the way Katrina had taken to Meg, or to watch as the councilwoman bent to her wishes when Helen felt out of options. Meg had a calming sort of aura that centered the eye of a storm.
This pathetic crush of mine had to end.
It was getting too dangerous to be pining after the woman, especially now that I’d been assigned the most idiotic mission of my life.
I might’ve been able to get Meg out of my system if I’d been allowed to rejoin the ranks and work alongside my men again, but there was no time to assign anyone else to this half-cocked and dangerous plan.
I could already see the headlines the city of Ethica would be waking up to tomorrow:
Councilwoman’s son runs off to the wild, chasing his new mutant bride.
And not a word of it was true.
Leave it to Helen to pull strings as fast as she did. An unmarked off-road solar-powered Jeep stocked with supplies pulled up into the driveway in less than an hour. Justus wouldn’t be chasing anyone. He was being dragged kicking and screaming into this plan along with us.
And Meg had said…
It didn’t matter what she’d said.
I had a job to focus on now.
I cringed when I saw who was behind the wheel of the Jeep.
“I’ve really got to stop driving your ass around, Lieutenant.” Staff Sgt. Marcus grinned half-heartedly.
I wanted to punch the colonel in his face for putting Marcus on this mission too. I’d known I wouldn’t be assigned alone—Justus was too precious to take a risk like that—but Marcus had a family that would miss him.
“We don’t know how long we’ll be gone,” I hurriedly whispered. “Is Daisy going to be all right?”
“She’s with her sister in the Fringes.” Marcus tapped the radio set up on the vehicle. “I’ve already got comms worked out.”
I nodded, knowing there wasn’t much else I could do without breaking the rules. Orders were orders.
Even when they sucked.
“Everyone ready?” I tossed in the last of the bags and closed the passenger door.
Meg’s eyes found mine in the rearview mirror, and I hated the look of worry that crossed her face.
I hated myself for pushing her away, when all I wanted to do was pull her close. The woman was driving me crazy and she didn’t even know it.
This was a mistake.
My gut was screaming at me to get someone else to handle this mission, but I couldn’t trust anyone else to protect her—them—like I would.
“Mom has officially lost it,” Justus grumbled from the backseat as Marcus started to drive. “How, in the name of science, is she going to convince the public that I am the one chasing some woman?”
“She’s definitely going to have her work cut out for her.” Meg growled. I must’ve been losing my mind or running on fumes because the sound made me want to smile.
“Is that an insult?” Justus snapped at her.
“Are they always like this?” Marcus whispered.
“Worse.” I sighed.
It was going to be a long trip.
The security guard lowered the tire strip to the government district as a convoy of armored vehicles blocked the access roads to downtown.
“I’m just saying that if you weren’t busy whoring yourself all over social media, you might’ve helped sell this marriage thing.” Meg shrugged.
“Did you just call me a whore?” Justus’s jaw dropped.
“If the shoe fits,” she said.
Marcus chuckled. “Well, they got the married fighting thing down.”
I focused on the road and the windshield wipers working against the misting rain. This whole time I’d been doing my best to get Justus to treat his intended wife right, but why had I bothered?
Nothing was working out like they’d planned.
And I couldn’t even say, “I told you so,” since no one was listening to me.
“You know, it’s a whole other world where I come from,” Meg was saying. “Females don’t play about their… partners. At least not in my territory.”
Our gazes met again in the mirror, and something tightened in my chest.
She was the first to look away.
“What’s it really like out there?” Justus tried to change the subject, but I knew him well enough to hear the real fear in his question.
“We eat raw meat and sleep in caves.” Meg’s smile tugged at my own lips.
“You’re not serious, right?” Justus looked at us. “Tell me she’s not serious.”
Marcus laughed again. “This is going to be fun.”
The gate guards waved us out of the city, and Marcus’s jaw tightened as he looked over the dilapidated buildings of the Fringes ahead.
Everything had happened so quickly. Helen wasn’t a god, but she was basically one inside the city of Ethica, and she moved mountains when she wanted.
I had no doubt she’d be able to spin this new narrative exactly as she saw fit. Helen was good at what she did, which is why she held her spot in the council. Our illustrious leaders.
We weren’t supposed to question things. We had to put our trust in the council, knowing they knew best.
But I had to wonder how much longer I could keep going along with this insanity before I snapped.