“Kylie, I—”
Trainer glares at me, and I shut up. There is no point trying to fix this right now, not until she’s healed, anyway.
“PX-57, take your assigned partner to the healing sector.”
When I look up and see the horror in Bella’s eyes, I realise I fucked up. This was a line I’ve never crossed before. I’ve never blacked out like that before, other than one time, and that was the mistake that took my best friend from me.
“Bella, I—” She silences me with a glare, and the words get trapped in my throat. I never wanted to hurt Kylie. Sure, I intended on leaving a few bruises…but this? This isn’t like me, I’ve never hurt one of the girls before.
The unease in my stomach just continues to build, and before I even realise it, my legs are moving before my brain can catch up, and I’m hurling into the toilet of the bathing sector. I almost killed Kylie, and if I had, there would’ve been no coming back from that.
I make a silent promise to myself, never to black out again.
Chapter 9:
“Stalking is a crime, Darcie.” Cayden’s familiar voice calls from behind me. We were sent back to the black market today, considering there was a tip Cayden would be here. What I didn’t expect was to see another blond guy with him.
Blondie is almost the exact opposite to Cayden: pale skin, blond hair, blue eyes. A contrast to Cayden and his darkening personality. Maybe today I’ll make him like me, though I doubt it very much.
“Wouldn’t you know, Cayden.” Blondie snorts from beside him.
“Darl—Darcie, nice to meet you,” Blondie says, his eyes flickering with something as Cayden glares at him. And for a moment, it almost sounded like he was going to say Darlia.
I don’t like that at all.
“It’s hardly fair that you know my name, but I don’t know yours.”
“The world isn’t fair, darling,” Cayden says, crossing his arms over his chest as he stares down at me, looking the exact opposite of liking me.
This is so exhausting. I’ve never had to work this hard on a target before.
“And what is that supposed to mean?” I cross my arms over my chest, mimicking his position. Ha. Take that, asshole. I even push for the glare, though I think he wins that one.
To some miracle, he finds the humour in my despair and smirks.
“It means, no one is coming to save you, princess.” My heart stops in my chest. Does he know something? Does he actually know who I am? The Academy? Blondie almost said my real name before…A shiver runs down my spine. I think Cayden knows.
“And what gave you the impression I want to be saved? And I assure you, I am no princess.” Every single sense is on high alert, and for the first time ever, I feel vulnerable.
“Everybody wants to be saved from something.”
Think, Darlia. Think. Throw him off. Do something to prove what he might know.
“And what do you think I need saving from?”
Cayden blinks, but doesn’t answer. Instead he turns to Blondie, dismissing him before turning back to me with a flicker of…something…in his eyes.
I hate this. Why can’t I just kill him? I hate having to care about how Cayden feels, what he’s thinking about. All I care about is how my gun will look between his lips or my knife against his throat. I don’t know how to make people, much less targets, like me.
Human bodies are delicate by design; even a small fall can graze your skin enough to draw blood. So when I use my knife, the skin slices open without resistance, crimson draining from their bodies like a baptising.
That’s another word Bella taught me, though honestly I still don’t understand it.
“Come for a walk with me, Darcie?”
My heart stops in my chest, but I take his offered hand anyway for a reason beyond me. Cayden leads us back up to surface level, where the street lights of Zone Three still shine, a small luxury they are allowed. Zones One and Two aren’t so fortunate; their lights turn off at midnight every day for curfew. Though it makes sense; why would anyone be out past midnight in Zone Two?
I’ve never really stopped to look at the zones, all my targets have had the same outcome: kill, or be killed. And I’m not a huge fan of the latter.
