Seriously? They’re negotiating?
“Synth tobacco next time Reed is here on a run,” Hawkins says after a moment of thought.
“Fine. Just teach her.”
“I’ll need a rat.”
“Gray has volunteered.”
My gaze flicks from one man to the other as I try to make sense of what they’re talking about, but their fast-paced exchange ends with Hawkins abruptly stalking out of the alcove.
“We’ll start tomorrow morning,” he snaps over his shoulder, leaving me to wonder what the hell just happened.
Life at the Dagger is similar to that on the Command base. Everyone has a work assignment. Everyone trains. Everyone keeps busy. Gray told me I might be able to work at the target range, but nobody has said anything yet, and my comm remains depressingly quiet for the rest of the day as I sit in my quarters bored out of my mind.
After we finished at the Temple this morning, Kallister said he had a briefing to attend and disappeared. I tried to explore the Operations floor on my own, only to discover that my thumbprint and retina scan don’t work everywhere. Most areas are still restricted to me, and when I attempted to return to the Temple, the elevator wouldn’t grant me access to LL.
To make matters worse, I miss Cross. I miss the heat of his lips traveling along my neck. I miss his strong, capable hands, gripping my waist, tangled in my hair.
I reach out to him before I can stop myself, needing to hear his voice.
“You good, Dove?”
I smile. It’s how he opens most conversations now.
“I’m okay.”
“What’s wrong?”He knows me well.
“Nothing. I mean, something. But it’s not a huge deal. People found out I can incite and now some of them are scared of me.”
“Well, you are pretty fucking scary.”
“I am not,”I protest.
“You scare me.”He’s no longer joking, his voice rough with emotion.
“Why do I scare you?”
“Because there are no limits to what I’d do to keep you safe.”
A rush of emotion floods me. I know exactly what he means.
“What did you get up to today?”he asks, changing the subject.
“I trained with Kallister.”
“He’s one of their leaders?”
“Yeah.”I pause.“I didn’t tell you before because I was still trying to wrap my head around it, but…he’s Jim’s brother. Histwinbrother.”
“Shit. That must be unnerving.”
“It really is.”
“What kind of training are we talking about?”
“They want me to master incitement.”
