Karra handles communications when she’s on the base, and recon missions when in the wards.
Neema, a petite girl with skin a few shades of bronze darker than my own, works in security and doesn’t bother hiding her distrust as she studies me.
Golden-haired, blue-eyed Henley is another pilot. He’s utterly gorgeous and knows it, flashing a dazzling white smile that leaves me a little breathless, though I’m not even attracted to the guy.
The mountain beside me is Mako, whose expression is bright as he says, “A fellow sniper! We should hit the range together. You’re going to love our outdoor range, Wrenny. Can I call you Wrenny?”
“Absolutely not,” I reply, and Gray snickers.
They’re all around my age, except for Evlynne, who rounds out the group. She’s twenty-five, and apparently multi-talented, serving as both fighter pilot and sniper. She’s also fiercely intimidating, withpale skin, dark-brown hair cut in a chin-length bob, and sharp gray eyes that inspect me as if I’m a specimen in a lab.
“I hear you’re screwing a Command lieutenant,” Evlynne says bluntly.
It takes a second to realize she saidlieutenantand notcaptain.Xavier. She means Xavier. For a moment, I thought she knew about Cross.
“He’s just a friend,” I say, taking a bite of my eggs.
“Didn’t realize we were fraternizing with the enemy now,” she drawls.
I stifle a sigh. “I don’t know if I’d call him the enemy anymore. Lieutenant Ford didn’t have to risk his life to help me escape.”
Both Evlynne and Neema stare at me in disbelief. Fortunately, we’re interrupted by the arrival of another guy who sinks onto the chair next to Neema, long fingers curled around a coffee cup. His dark hair is cut short, and his eyes are a deep, lush green that reminds me of the forest at twilight. He doesn’t smile. Doesn’t speak. But something about his presence captures the attention without him having to say a single word.
“This is Saint,” Gray tells me, indicating the attractive newcomer. “Saint, Wren.”
I nod in greeting. Saint’s gaze sweeps over me. Utterly unreadable.
“Welcome to the Dagger,” he says, and his voice is low and measured, just like I knew it would be.
“Are you gonna finish that?” Mako asks Evlynne, then swipes the coffee cup from her hand before she can respond.
“Jerk,” she grumbles.
Mako is mid-sip when he suddenly freezes. Eyes narrowing. “Wow. Look at her, just eating that cake with her pink hair like a smug asshole.”
Confused, I follow his indignant gaze to a table across the room, where a pixie-faced, pink-haired woman sits with two other Mods, chatting as she cuts a piece of banana cake with her fork.
“I don’t understand.” I turn to Gray for help. “Do we hate the pink hair or the cake?”
He gives me a look of warning. “Just forget it. Once he gets going—”
“Let me paint a picture for you, new girl,” Mako announces, and several groans ring out.
“Please don’t,” begs Henley.
“It’s a man’s birthday,” he begins, as if performing a dramatic reading. “A handsome, strapping man, about to celebrate his twenty-second year of existence. And this particular birthday is a special one, Wrenny—”
“Nope,” I warn.
“—because it coincides with the arrival of a new shipment from those prickhead Tierrans, who possess not a single redeeming quality except for one: gold chocolate.”
“Gold chocolate?” I echo. “Is that a real thing?”
“Oh, it’s very real,” Mako confirms.
“It’s a rare cocoa bean,” Luisa tells me. “Only grows once a year in Dey Province.”
Tierra Fe is divided into four provinces, and from what I recall of my geography classes, Dey Province is in the northernmost point of the continent.
