He laughs and raises his hands innocently. “Chill, Mori. I was just razzing her. Seriously though, be careful out there, okay? I don’t want to say goodbye to either of you today.” He pats my helmet and gives me a half-worried grin.
I can’t tell if it’s worry for the success of our diversion or worry of me attacking Emery. Both are valid. He has been around for a few of my prior “mishaps” after all.
“We’ll be fine. Make sure you keep an eye on the hideout too. They’ll likely be looking for the sniper in the rocks,” I say. Gage nods and flicks two fingers off his forehead in farewell as he and Thomas head toward higher ground.
Thomas is his signaler, but everyone takes a high risk just being out here. He’s watching literally everyone’s back and will give us intel on incoming weapons or hostiles. Thomas nods at us as he passes. We do the same to him.
Kayden secures a helmet on Mikah’s head and hands her a pistol. Her eyes widen at it like she’s never held one before.
“What? Don’t tell me you don’t know how to use a gun,” he grumbles when he sees the same expression on her face. She smiles innocently.
“I’m the computer girl, remember? I don’t mess around with bullets and explosives,” she admits.
Lieutenant Erik overhears her and latches her gun to the holster on her hip. “If everything goes according to plan, then you won’t need to use it.” He looks at me and Emery with weight behind his eyes.
He knows this phase is heavily reliant on us drawing the majority of the guards outside. He also knows what the chances are of us dying too. I swallow and glance down. The last thing I want to do is let him down like all the times before. I know I won’t let myself hurt my partner this time. I clench my hands at my sides.
“Everything will be executed perfectly,” I reply confidently.
Erik nods at me. “I know it will be.”
It will.
Maybe not.
Fuck, nope.
I think about how much I’ve let the lieutenant down the second Emery runs out ahead of me into the field surrounding the hideout. She diverts from our planned formation and runs directly toward a barren patch of dirt where the hostiles definitely have a clear shot at her.
The fortress is a flat-roofed, two-story structure with claylike walls that match the rocks and sand around us. It’s hard to see in the dark, only the windows are easily visible.
My heart falls out of my chest as I charge after her. She stops, breaks the top off of a smoker flare, and lifts it above her head.
For a moment, the panic flees me and all I see is pink.
The pink smoke that rolls from the flare and bursts into the sky above her is like blush on roses. Her long, riotous braids whip behind her like a breath of chaos.
Emery. You magnificent, wondrous thing.
She waves her arm around before throwing the flare as far as she can. As the flare sails through the air, she lifts her MK-17 and shoots at something on the ground ahead. An explosion goes off, throwing dust and debris into the air, fire rolls with fury.
My jaw slacks and I watch her with dumbfounded, starstruck eyes as she whirls to face me with the biggest fucking grin I’ve ever seen under a mask. My heart thumps harder than it ever has before, fueling me with a feeling I can’t name. Fear, maybe. Shock, definitely… Something that soars through my arteries as the explosion turns into a chain of erupting dirt and fire that cuts across the entire valley.
All I see is her as she struts right up to me, dirt on her mask already, fire burning the world behind her, and absolute mania behind those lovely eyes.
She offers me her gloved hand, eyes narrowed with a smile.
“My plan was better,” she says proudly, pulling her hand up in the form of a gun and pretending to shoot me. Emery winks andshoves my shoulders back so I fall on my ass before she sprints for the boulder we originally were going to take shelter behind.
“Morphine, this isn’t a game!” I shout, chasing after her, trying to sound stern and pissed, but it comes out exactly how I really feel.
Fucking exhilarated.
13
EMERY
Mori comes crashingup against my back as we take cover behind a large boulder. The siren is already going off around the hideout, and men are shouting as they scramble to get eyes on us.
