Then Vi reaches up slowly and curls her fingers into the front of my shirt.
“You’re watching me like you’re afraid I’ll disappear,” she whispers. “Or explode.”
“Both are possible, knowing you.”
“Which one do you want?”
I don’t answer. Instead, I remove my mask, then lean in slowly and press my mouth to hers.
The kiss starts soft, controlled, just a brush of lips. But the second she responds, heat flares through me. Her fingers tighten in my shirt, pulling me closer, and I deepen the kiss just enough to feel her melt into it.
Her mouth is warm, soft, yielding in a way that has nothing to do with submission and everything to do with want.
When I pull back, her eyes are wide, her breath uneven.
“That was... unexpected,” she whispers.
“Yes,” I say hoarsely. “And you wanted it?”
She looks down, and then along the length of the corridor. Anywhere to avoid my gaze.
“Yes,” she breathes, and leans in for another.
40
VI
I don’t go lookingfor them.
That would be desperate.
Instead, I move through the Rot the way I’ve learned to, steady pace, gaze straight ahead, not rushing, not wandering. Like I belong where I am, even if I don’t.
The mall hums around me the same way it always does. Low voices. Boots on concrete. A generator coughing somewhere deeper in the building. The very definition of tedium. The Rot is busiest at this hour, when people are moving between work hubs and wherever they drink or sleep or disappear to afterward.
That’s when I spot Rogue.
He’s leaning against the half-collapsed wall of what used to be a shoe store, one foot braced behind him, talking to a Rotter I don’t recognize. He’s got his mask on,bone-white jaw stark under the flickering lights, body loose like he’s got nowhere else to be.
I hesitate for half a second. Then I walk over.
“Hey,” I say.
He glances up, surprised enough to tell me he wasn’t expecting me. The amusement in his eyes shows me he’s probably smiling under his mask, like he’s deciding how much trouble I’m going to be for him.
“Well,” he says. “If it isn’t our favorite permanent fixture.”
I don’t rise to his dig. “You got a minute?”
The Rotter with him looks between us, then steps away without being told. That tells me more than anything Rogue could say.
He gives me his full attention. “What’s up?”
I lean back against the wall too, mirroring his posture without meaning to. “I had a question.”
“Dangerous start.”
“I’ll try not to disappoint.”
