My heart splinters, but I manage to rise, somehow maintaining my dignity. “I’ll be here whenever you’re ready to talk. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry. I should have told you. I just didn’t want to lose you.” I wince when I hear my voice crack. “I really didn’t want to lose you.”
For a second, his shoulders sag, his features softening.
But that doesn’t stop him from leaving.
Before I can succumb to the tears, I grab my comm and slide it in my pocket, then hurry down to the Operations floor.
I can’t be inside this base right now. I can’tthinkin here, and my emotions are running too high. I’m gutted that Gray walked out on me. And I’m disappointed in Kallister for disbanding the Authority and proving himself to be as power-hungry as everyone else on this asinine Continent.
Cross was right. It’s fucking unsalvageable.
I take a breath, trying to calm myself, but the air feels too thick. I need fresh air.
Turning the corner at the elevator bank, I glimpse a blur of movement. A dark-blond head. A khaki-pant leg.
For a second I think it’s Gray, but I reach the end of the corridor in time to see Kallister disappear through the air lock.
Suspicion pricks at me. Why is he leaving the base after dark?
I walk faster, entering the air lock myself. The door hisses open to reveal an empty landing hangar, so I head toward the path that winds through the dense trees. I spot Kallister about twenty yards ahead, a dark silhouette against the sky. The sun set about an hour ago, so it’s hard to see the path, but his strides are fast and deliberate. A man with a purpose.
I’m on full alert now. I allow him to place some more distance between us before I follow, silently navigating the craggy cliffside. I know where he’s going. This is the same path that leads to the white daggerstone cave.
The cave where he likes to have private conversations because nobody’s abilities work there.
When I reach the top of the bluff a few minutes later, I catch the faint murmur of voices echoing out of the cave’s entrance.
I flatten myself against the stone wall and begin edging toward the mouth of the cave, shrouding myself in the shadows.
“With Adrienne gone, it’ll be easier to sanction your missions. No more votes, no more running everything by those spineless assholes.” Kallister’s voice.
His words bring a flicker of confusion.
Missions? What missions is he talking about?
I press my back to the wall, holding my breath as I wait for a response.
“Gray won’t like it. He doesn’t have the stomach for what we’re doing.”
Hawkins.
That was Hawkins.
Chapter 58
My blood runs cold. Why are Kallister and Hawkins secretly meeting on the bluff?
Andwhatwon’t Gray like?
“Gray will fall in line once he recognizes this is the greatest weapon we have and the fastest way to end this pointless war.”
There’s a muffled chuckle from Hawkins. “Don’t be stupid, Kal. He’s not going to let me corrupt on a mass scale.”
I swallow my gasp before it slips out.
Hawkins is a corrupter?
“We’re not ready to go mass, anyway. There’ll be time to convince Gray to come around while you perfect the process.”
