“I don’t trust you.” Not a single word out of his mouth is ever what it seems. He twists words and makes them fit his agenda.
But frack. This is what I came to do. What I sacrificed everything to achieve. I can see them again. Hold them!
“You want to find your friends? Earn it.”
The whole thing stinks of lies and deception. It’s a farce for him to get his own way.
But the worse part?
I’m going to do it.
Chapter Four
Halley
Five Years Ago
"Careful, Flicker," I call to the petite Omega twirling in the snow, her tongue out to catch falling snowflakes. The stone is slippery with frozen patches of ice. The sun never quite reaches this small courtyard off the side of the Barkrood Base kitchens. The abandoned garden has frosted spider webs strung between the brown stalks of long-dead plants.
"How'd you score us this little excursion, Sparks?" Ember asks next to me, leaning against the railing, her head tilted back as if she can still catch rays of sunshine despite the looming shadows cast by the concrete buildings. She inhales deeply, her breath puffing out in a white cloud. "Mmm, didn’t realize how badly I needed fresh air."
She's a couple of inches taller than me, her skin a deep bronze.
She has on a pretty, ice-blue scarf today, wrapped tightly around her neck, the ends whipping in the wind. I have no clue where she got such a decorative piece of clothing when everyone on base wears a variation of camo-green.
That's Ember, though. She's a force of nature. If she wants something, you'd better give in or get out of her way.
"It's all about who you know," I say with a mystical tone, wiggling my fingers in her face.
She snorts and bats me away with a grin. "Must’ve been fracking good blowjob."
I slap her hand in mock outrage.
“I bet if you’d cupped the balls like I taught you, we’d be somewhere warm,” Dazz grumbles, pouting at me with his burly arms crossed.
Flicker swans over, entwining herself with him, and tugs on his sleeve insistently. "Dance with me, Dazz. It'll keep us toasty."
Honestly, if she asked him to juggle flaming snowballs, he’d try. That’s the kind of dumb, loyal love we live on.
Dazz doesn't need to be told twice before he's swinging her around the small courtyard, slipping on the ice in a clumsy attempt at a ballroom-inspired waltz.
Ember and I look at each other. We're used to Dazz's dramatics and Flicker's whimsical nature, but the two of them together is a recipe for trouble. It’s only a matter of time.
“They’re one pirouette away from a concussion and a mandatory lecture on personal safety from Everlyn. I'm not covering for them again,” Ember sighs fondly. She’s the kind of friend who complains and then helps you bury the body.
Soon enough, Dazz's big feet get tangled up between Flicker's, and they both fall in a heap of limbs and laughs.
Ember and I rush forward to help them up, laughing and shivering, breaths fogging in the air.
Flicker giggles.
She's a tiny thing, shorter than even my five-foot-nothingness and thin as a wisp. She's also the youngest of our little group, with white blonde jaw-length wavy hair and big, wide, ethereal blue eyes filled with mischief. She could pass for a woodland sprite. You'd think it would make her stand out, but she's so good at disappearing when she wants to. She's the only Omega who can sneak around without getting caught. The rest of us aren’t so stealthy and have to resort to other ways of circumventing the base restrictions.
I pull my hat down lower over my ears to try and trap the heat in. My wavy brown hair hangs down my back, blocking some of the chill, but the wind continues to cut through to sting my cheeks. I've never been a big fan of the cold. I've always preferred fall, when the air has a slight bite, but it's still a tolerable temperature.
A throat clears from behind me, and I turn to see Jason tapping his watch.
I sigh.
