The men furrow their brows like they are considering actually coming over here and trying him.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Thomas mutters under his breath.
“He’s just joking,” Gage says with his charming fake laugh, shoving Mori to keep walking forward.
Mori doesn’t budge an inch. He glances at me and must see the impatience brewing in my gaze because he sighs and finally relents. Thomas flashes him a warning look that goes completely ignored.
“You’re going to get the whole squad in trouble,” I grumble as he takes his place beside me and we resume walking down the expanse of the halls. Mori grunts in response, hardly giving me more than a side glance.
Thomas is the second in charge when Erik isn’t around. He’s reasonable for the most part, but he’s strict to follow rules. Definitely the most organized and intelligent one of our squad. His mullet suggests he has some humor, which he does, but he has eyes as calloused as Mori’s. They’ve survived on the Fury Squad longerthan anyone else has. I can’t even fathom what they’ve seen. I can’t fathom whatI’veseen and have simply forgotten. Would my eyes be cold like theirs? Heart turned to ice?
“Kayden’s going to be furious if you get us put into the hole like last year.” Gage’s voice is devoid of his charm.
My brow quirks up. “Thehole?” That’s the first I’ve heard of it.
Gage chuckles ahead. “Trust me, it’s exactly what it sounds like, and the lieutenant makes us sit in it for a full day.” I frown, failing to see how that is funny in any sense.
Thomas shrugs, grinning too. “I’d say it’s deeper than it sounds.”
Mori keeps his brows firmly set and doesn’t bother replying to any of us. I elbow his side to get a rise out of him, but all it earns me is a hollow glare. I don’t have much to go on when it comes to knowing how to make friends. I’ve watched my squad mates interact and chide one another, but no matter what I try, Mori remains impassive to me.
It only draws me closer, more desperate to peel back his layers. It doesn’t help that he’s so attractive. Eyes like a forest of sage, lips torn from his teeth, a scar that cuts through his left eye and begs to be caressed.
I want to know everything about him, something deep inside me calls to him.
Unfortunately we are running out of time for getting to know each other. Mori is my partner, and next week we’re embarking on our first mission. I’m assuming that’s what the topic of conversation will be during the morning briefing.
Nothing moves very fast in the Dark Forces, planning and executing missions are certainly not something that fits in that category. Clearance and strategy come above all else to us.
Well that, and to never, under any circumstances, disobey orders once you receive them from your commanding officer. We are disposable, some more than others. And while I don’t remember anything about who I am, I know I’m disposable.
With that being said, disobeying a direct order will get you on Riøt’s list. Or worse, I know Mori’s no stranger to killing squad mates. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s received orders to terminate others under the guise of his madness. Though, I’m not sure I understand the extent of what would land a soldier on that list. It’s not something everyone converses about, and Mori glares me into my death bed the second I even try speaking with him about things as silly as the weather. I haven’t even fathomed to bring up something as complex as Dark Forces’s policies.
We descend two flights of stairs before coming to the door with a lock pad drilled into the side. Thomas punches in the code and waits for us to funnel in before he takes the rear. Only the squad leaders and their second in command know the codes. It’s the only time we’re allowed upstairs in the real world. Supervised, much like a prison.
I wish I remembered what my life was like outside of this one.
The view from the boat we took from Alaska to California was primarily vast sea and shoreline. I remember the landscapes and even the cities of the world. But I seem to fall short on where I fall into place in all of it. Where did I come from? It all seems lost, never to be found. Did I have a family? What did I do that was so heinous it landed me here? I know I have bloodstained hands, I just don’t know how dirty they are. Although, one can make a well educated guess based on where I am.
I inhale and shut my eyes as I lie back on my bunk while we wait for the lieutenant.
Kayden was the only one who decided to sit out of the morning exercises today. He’s more of a lone wolf anyway. The clicking and metal sliding against itself makes me glance over at his bunk across from mine. He takes apart his pistol and MK 17 rifle every single day. It’s his one habit.
Just like Thomas’s is to fold his spare clothing until it’s perfect and Gage’s is to rub his fingers along the hem of his shirts.
Mori takes to reading when he can. I’ve eyed all of his books more times than I care to admit. What does someone like him spend their time reading? He comes across as a weapons manual type of consumer, but the way he jots notes down with an old pencil along the margins of the pages offers the idea that perhaps he’s more of a poet.
Now that I finally have his schedule down to a T, I plan on borrowing one of his novels to see what always steals his attention. Maybe I can learn more about him that way.
God, he would be utterly appalled to know that I actually want to get to know him.
“Move those tiny feet.” Gage pats the soles of my boots so that I pull them onto the bed and out of his way as he opens his night stand.
Kayden rolls his eyes. “Her feet are like two inches smaller than mine.”
“Mm-hmm.” Gage chuckles like he’s making a point.
I’m just happy that there’s someone else on the squad that’s only a few inches taller than me compared to the titans the rest of them are. Kayden’s the normal, brown-haired, olive-toned man you’d expect to see upstairs with the other good soldiers. He doesn’t have coldness in his gaze like most of them do.
