“Tell me, Scorch Squad,” he continues, voice dropping. “How bad is it out there? Have they asked you to kill civilians yet?”
My stomach clenches.
Shade's eyes go predator-sharp and I know which memory he's choking on. That evac mission last month. The one wherethe "insurgents" turned out to be Beta protestors marching on The Capital.
Viper’s hands curl into fists. He still hasn’t spoken about what he did that day. Probably never will.
Blaze disappeared for three days after. We covered for him. He came back, but the cracks in his already fragile mind had grown to gaping crevasses.
And me?
I didn’t question it. Ifollowedthe fucking orders. Right up until I realized what we’d done.
It keeps me up at night. The guilt and shame.
Afterward, when the brass issued the direct order to eliminate any civilians who resist, I knew we weren’t the good guys. Not the protectors of the people of Fathim. Just mopping up messes for people in power who’d already retreated behind their closed gates.
The others are silent. No one answers. No one has to.
Because we’re all thinking about the same orders. The same piles of bodies. The same lines we crossed and never really came back from.
But there is a way back.
Halley.
She’s hunched forward in her chair, shoulders drawn up like she’s trying to disappear into herself. Her arms are tight around her middle and the scent of her tears is rising, sharp and vulnerable and Omega.
She doesn’t look up.
Doesn’t look at any of us.
“If you want to save your Omega… you’ll need to leave Fathim and joinmyarmy.”
The room stills.
It’s not a threat. A truth.
If we walk out of this room and tell him to go fuck himself... Halley doesn’t get access to training. Doesn’t get a bond, and won’t stand a chance of surviving her Omega Command.
Stone places both hands flat on the surface of his desk and leans over.
“Stay,” he says in a firm, quiet tone. “Mate your Omega. Fight for what’s right. Become the best versions of yourselves.”
My hands curl into fists.
Fuck.
That’s what I want. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.
To be the best.
I’ve spent my entire career trying to be the perfect soldier. Loyal. Dutiful. Unbreakable.
There’s only one thing that could ever make me turn my back on my duty. One thing that could make me betray everything I’ve ever known.
Nothing,nothing,has ever cracked me like Halley Sparks has.
Chapter Fourteen
