“The Dark Forces reward soldiers who are risky. Keen. Willing to do whatever it takes to ensure that their team survives out there, even if it means cheating.”
I should’ve guessed. “The Dark Forces don’t do anything that isn’t shady, do they?” I let my gaze fall back down to the ACE 32 in my hands. It’s a fitting place for people like us. Nothing is fair in the dark underbelly of the world. I think of the time I terminated four guards with a bottle of poison I put in their wine. They thought they were being rewarded by their boss. Poor saps.
Cameron chuckles, the sound is deep and draws my eyes to him. His smile is weak, but I admire it all the same. “Shady is kind of our thing. You either get down and dirty with the heathens or I’m afraid the Dark Forces will eat you up, pretty girl.”
I shoot him a glare and lift my rifle, aiming for the dummies at the end of the range. “They didn’t call me the Severance Executioner for being a saint,Mori,” I mutter as I pull the trigger. The ACE 32 fires smoothly, silenced with the muffler at the end, and the bullet glides through the air beautifully.
The first dummy’s head explodes when the bullet hits the center of its forehead. I decapitate the second with a blow straight to the vertebrae and rupture the heart of the third.
I grip the rifle tightly in one hand and grab one of the handguns on the table beside me as I turn, pulling the trigger against the bottom of the throat of a ballistic dummy behind me.
Cameron has his arms crossed, but he can’t keep the carnal hunger from his gaze as he watches me. He pushes off the wall and circles me, his body an inch from brushing against mine. I’m overwhelmed with his scent and breathe sharply. Himalmosttouching me is driving me mad. All I want are his cruel hands on my skin again.
“You look like a saint, though, Em. That’s the problem. You’re sweet enough to devour in one sitting. Just because you can kill doesn’t mean you know what it’s like to lose a comrade. To fester in the awful things you’ve done. Out there in civilization, you were merely killing bad people assigned to you. In here, you’re going to take the lives of those youchooseto kill. Of cadets that are only trying to survive like you are. Of whoever the fuck General Nolan sends us after. Can you stomach that?” Cameron slowly walks around me until he’s before me again and staring into my eyes.
“I ended lives yesterday and slept like a baby, or have you already forgotten?” I lie. I slept like absolute shit. But delusion and dissociating are the only methods I know to keep my mind straight. Reed taught me that, and it’s saved me from myself.
He tilts his head and grins. “And you’ve had this emptiness about you since. I can see the way the guilt collects in your eyes. You’re just choosing not to process it. Detachment will keep you alive, so at least you’re smart enough to do that.”
I bite my lower lip. How does he see it? It annoys me that he knows all of that just by looking at me. Am I that transparent? I don’t try to be. I’m not good at being as heartless as he is. I didn’t lose everything the way he did.
“See? That’s your problem. You toss around your heart like it will earn you something. Caring for others will get younothing.Let me be your first disappointment on that front. Youwilllose that part of yourself. It might as well be sooner than later because by the end of the trials, you won’t be any better than me.” He says the words emotionlessly.
I look at the floor and try to avoid his gaze, but his cold fingers find my chin, and he angles my head back to him.
“It’s a good place to be, Em.”
“Really? Because you don’t look so good, Cameron. You say I’m the one not processing shit, but what about you? I can see right through you too, you know.” He recoils at my words like he’s been struck and narrows his eyes.
I take a step back to put distance between us, but he closes it just as quickly, backing me up against the wall. I breathe in as he lowers his head against the wall until his lips are brushing my ear and whispers, “Careful with that sly tongue of yours.” His breath warms my neck and sends heat through my entire body.
“Or what?” I ask softly, turning my cheek toward him until our flesh meets.
Cameron’s throat bobs as he slowly threads his fingers with mine and brings my hand behind my lower back. He whispers over my lips, “I’ll punish you until you learn your lesson. Until you can no longer speak.”
His grip loosens over my hand as his eyes dip to my lips.
“You want to be tendernow?After last night?” I ask callously, and his composure finally fractures.
“This isn’t tender. This is starving.”
He gives in to his carnal desire and kisses me like it’s his first and last. He smooths his hand down my throat while the other keeps my hand secured tightly behind me. True to his word, Cameron consumes me fervently. Our lips move to the same beat, and our hearts thump savagely against one another’s chests. I feel as though I know him more than anyone has, yet at the same time, not at all.
A moan slips from my lips as he lets his tongue sink into my mouth, exploring every inch of me. His hands follow suit, releasing my wrist and moving over the grooves and valleys of my flesh like it’s the first time he’s touched me. It’s more delicate this time, almost somber in the way his thumb traces the edge of my breast.
Cameron pulls his head away and grits his teeth together. The veins in his neck are prominent as he restrains himself from indulging in whatever this is between us.
I press my lips to his neck and wrap my arms around his torso slowly, gliding my fingers along his ribs. He shudders as I murmur, “What are you afraid of, Cam? I’m just a woman. You’re incapable of caring, remember?”
His body stiffens, and for a moment, I think I’ve won our little battle of wits. But he brings his nose to mine and stares into my soul. “You think I’ll spare you in the end, Emery, don’t you? I’m only trying to keep your fragile pieces together until the last song is sung. Until I’m the last thing you see.”
Not such a bad sight, I muse, trying to keep the cold chill from entering my veins.
I laugh over his lips as I kiss him again. “Such a poet. You’ve fallen mad, I’m afraid,” I say between breaths. He groans and pushes me against the wall, fisting my hair and sending fire over my skin.
Cameron slips his hand under my shirt and kneads my breast. “Only you seem to drive me to this place of madness. The things I want to do to you are beastly.” He bites my lower lip as he unzips my pants. I whimper at the sting of his teeth followed by the soft stroke of his tongue.
He kisses me once more before pulling away and holding my gaze as he lowers to his knees before me. I remain standing with my back pressed against the wall.
