“Harold is against them because they killed his twin. Like our parents, his brother found out that they had a plan bigger than domination, and he suspected it was only a matter of time before they executed that plan. Harold disagreed with his brother, and when his brother went to confront the Vojin, they murdered him. This was his proof. Jord and Seits are close to Harold. They all grew up together in New York. They were shipped to Arizona for Separation placement when they were younger. When Jord and Seits found out the Vojin killed Harold’s brother, they crossed too, removing their implants.”
“How and when did they find out about us and our parents?”
“I don’t know, Ky. When you heard it, it was the first time I heard it.”
“He knows details.”
“What do you want to do?”
“I don’t know.” I purse my lips. “You’re the brains of this operation.” I shrug. “I just know I want it to involve killing a lot of Vojin. Me having to reload over and over and over. And us not dying in the process.”
“We are probably going to die, Ky. But as long as we go out with pride, avenging our parents, taking out more of them than they do us. Our deaths will count.”
“We may make it out alive.”
“I hope we do. But if we plan on raiding their home, we will be outnumbered. Logically, there’s no way we make it out alive, but let’s hope for the best.”
“We’ll tell Jord we will help but not confirm we’re mixed. That’ll open too many doors because, technically, that’s not the truth. We, the generals, and Harold will raid the Vojin,” I strategize, playing out the conversations and the event in my mind. I see Jord nodding and hours later Vojin falling.
Luke grabs his chin between his thumb and index finger, and rubs it before saying, “Jord wants you to convince Marc and Sean to fight against them with us, going up there with us,” he says, pointing to the sky. “And I am supposed to be convincing Collins and Cecilia.”
“You are off to a great start,” I warble sarcastically, lifting my brows high and widening my eyes. There’s no way Collins will listen to anything he says now.
Luke snorts. “If I tell Collins to jump off one of those bridges they built, she’ll do it. There isn’t much convincing needed, no matter how I treat her.”
“Why?”
Luke rolls his eyes and starts back for the base. “The same reason Marc has you picking him over me.”
Oohh, that is not nice. His words strike me in my back, and I tense from the pain. “I am not picking Marc over you, Luke. I’m―”
“Don’t lie to me, Kylie. It’s better for you to say nothing at all than to lie to me. We’ll do this and succeed in clearing out these Vojin. Maybe the wars will stop now that we have set aside our differences as countries and are working together. Then maybe Separation won’t be so intense, and you and him can have each other. Go on a date or something,” he says dryly, looking over his shoulder for a second then turning away. He shrugs once.
I know Luke is pissed about Marc, but for some reason, he doesn’t display it as I expect him to. When I think of the end of the wars, people coming together, I long to be laughing and talking with Marc at the diner with a shake and a basket of fries. But at what cost? Would it be worth it not to have Separation and war?
We walk into Jord’s office, and Jord stands, asking, “Did you have enough time to think about it?”
“We did,” Luke responds.
“You have decided?”
“Before I give you our answer.” Luke pauses. “When we walked into our corridors, Cory was there talking to Collins about the Vojin planning to attack in two weeks. Would you know anything about that?”
Jord crosses his arms, brows knitting. “We were not sure when they planned to attack. We only knew we wanted to attack them first.”
“When are you planning to attack?” I ask.
He sits back down and looks at a couple of papers on his desk. “The four of us have to travel out to Highrum in the morning. We will set our mission on the Vojin destruction after we return.”
“Were you going to wait until the last minute to tell us about this Highrum mission? Why are we going there?” I ask.
“You have something better to do than what you’re told, Kylie?” he continues, and I zip my lips. “We are required by the Guidance to do so.” They are going to turn all of us into Zombies. I just know it. “There is a party there in honor of the Premier. We were cordially invited. Whatever that means.” Luke and I shrug. Why does it matter how you are invited, or what type of invite it is? I don’t get it either. “They requested the heads of the sector, which is Seits and me, and my top incoming leaders, which are you two. Arletta seemed to be very impressed with you, Kylie, and when we spoke this morning, she wanted to confirm you and Luke will attend.”
“I’m honored,” I say with an edge of sarcasm, trying not to roll my eyes. “I mean no disrespect,” I quickly follow. I have no problems with the Guidance. We’ve lived under them forever. If it weren’t for their order and instruction, things in the America would probably be worse off. I should actually thank them for creating me. They are the reason Creations exist. But I’m not that generous. “I am honored she’s shown a liking in me, sir. I performed as I was born to and deserved the praise I received following orders and executing the implants.”
“You are correct, Ky. Be ready at eight hundred hours for our departure. By the way,” he lowers his voice. “Ky, Luke is already aware of this. We will also need reinforcements when we go. Those who may not be mixed as well. I suspect you can convince Marc and Sean to accompany us on this mission, and Luke is expected to convince Collins and Cecilia.”
I nod, and we leave his office. When we’re far enough away, I say, “Luke, I’ve already talked to Marc about him helping us.”
“Great. What’d he say?” Luke asks, interest piquing as he looks at me with prominent brows.
I scratch my eyebrow and mutter, “I think he’s undecided. I’ll talk to him again tonight.”
Luke grumbles, “Damn, Ky. Is there anything he doesn’t know?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Does he know everything that we found out?”
“Almost.”
“What the hell, Ky. You’ll just tell him everything?”
I shrug. “Yes. What’s the problem? He risked his life for me, Luke.”
He shakes his head. “Whatever, Kylie. Are you sleeping in my room or his?”
“Yours. I’m going to talk to him for a minute after I shower.”
Luke opens the door to our house and walks in without waiting on me. He’s disappointed, and I get that. But it’s not necessary. I wouldn’t pick Marc over Luke.
Correction, it’s possible that I will pick Marc over Luke. I just hope that I’m never presented with the option.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
After I shower and put my clothes away, I go to Marc’s room. Sean is coming out as I’m preparing to knock. “Hey,” he greets.
“Hi. Are you coming back?”
“No. I’ll finish talking to him in the morning.” He leaves the door open so I can walk in.
Closing the door behind me, I watch Marc sit on his bed. He drags his hand down his face and grumbles. “What’s wrong?”
He meets my gaze and slightly brightens his expression with the hint of a smile. “Nothing, what’s wrong with you?” I study his expression and can’t place the feeling, but he lied earlier and is lying now.
“You sure everything is okay, Marc? You seem a little detached.”
He nods. “I’m fine, Ky. The days are just weighing on me.” He waves me over. “Want to help me out with that?”
Maybe that’s true. Our days have been hard on us lately. But Marc’s never really bothered by anything. I push past it and cross the floor to stand in front of him. “I’m leaving tomorrow. Maybe for a day or two.” Maybe the break will be good. It could be me he’s detached from.
“Why? Leaving where
?”
I sit beside him. “Luke, Jord, Seits, and I were requested by the Guidance to go to this party for the Premier. Mandatory, something cordially invited.” I shrug.
“Hmm. Sounds fancy. You’re going to wear a dress?”
“Eww. I hope not.”
Marc chuckles. “I bet you’d be hot in a dress, Ky.”
“Well, thanks.”
“Mmm.” He lies back on his bed, and I go with him. “One day, we will run away. We’ll come back. But we will run away so I can take you on a walk somewhere. I don’t know where just yet, but somewhere pleasant, and we’ll be uncovered for each other, holding hands and sharing one of your white shakes.” I laugh. “Seriously, then we will go eat a Chicago-style hotdog. Though I doubt we’ll be in Chicago.”
I grab his hand, and he moves his fingers between mine, holding them in the air as he stares at our linked fist.
Smiling, I ask, “Then what?” picturing the event as he speaks.
“After we eat, and I get you smelling like grilled onions, we are going to find a park with trees, those big bushy trees, you know, and plush grass that we can lie on and stare at the sky at night when we can see the stars.”
“Are you uncovered for me, Marcain?” I turn on my side to look at him.
“Something like that.” He touches my cheek, rubbing his thumb back and forth over my cheekbone. “What did you come in here for?”
“Wanted to talk, to tell you I was leaving, ask you something.”
He grazes his fingers from my cheek to my neck as he leans in, but not close enough for him to kiss me. It’s not until his eyes shift to my lips that I realize he’s waiting on me to meet him.
I lean forward and kiss him deep. The bed under me softens the instant our lips touch. The oxygen in his room thins out, and his hand on my neck becomes heavy. His touch and the feeling of his lips and tongue lightly brushing over mine are all that I am aware of. If I allowed myself to get completely lost in his kiss, I’d probably feel the breeze from the park he envisioned earlier. But I can’t. There’s a point to my being here, and it’s not to indulge in his company. I lean back, touching his hand on my neck and removing it so he can’t pull me back to him.
“What?” he asks, moving his hand from mine so it’s resting on my waist. “What’s wrong?”
I sigh and swallow hard. “I want to ask again…Um…” There’s this feeling in the pit of my stomach that this is either going to lead to an argument or rejection. There’s not a doubt in my mind that Marc is anything but a Creation and asking him of this didn’t go so well last time.
“Spit it out, Ky.” He lies on his back, scooting over a bit―away from me.
I sit up, crossing my legs and pulling my hair into a ponytail. My hair lies against my neck, and its weight comforts me. “I need you to go against them with me. They have―”
“They who?” he cuts in aggressively.
“Jord.”
“Ky, I’m not doing anything with your extended kind. Something here, with you, I’m okay with. But you telling me the other day the general is with Cory and they are working on helping them come here and convince Creations to help them…”
I explain everything to Marc, telling him all about Seits and Jord and their plan to inflict damage on the Vojin. “I’m going to do it, but…” I wait for him to look at me. He doesn’t, so I lean forward to grab his jaw and turn him to face me. “I’ve been tasked with asking you and Sean to come with us, and Luke needs to convince Collins and Cecilia.”
Shaking his head, Marc grabs my wrist and tugs my hand down. “That’s not going to happen, Ky.”
“You won’t help me?”
“How do you know what they say is true?”
“Honestly, if it is or isn’t, Luke and I had that plan anyway. It was going to be the two of us, and we were going to go there and shoot up everything, live or die. But in order for us to be as effective as we want, we will need reinforcements. It took us by surprise to find out about Jord and Seits tonight.”
“Why Collins?”
Why Collins, that’s his takeaway? I shrug. “Why are we talking about Collins? Who cares why? Because she can shoot a gun, I guess, Marc. You have to trust me, okay? You know I couldn’t let anyone cross you or anything hurt you. I would never walk you into danger. Trust me and do this with me.”
“You don’t have to make me blind promises, Ky. You don’t even know what you are walking into. You’re blinded by revenge, anything to get back at the beings who snatched your parents from you will sound good.” He sits up on his elbows. “How do you know that once you get there, Jord and Seits won’t ambush you in a setup?”
“I doubt it. But I can’t say what will happen when I get there. I can only go off what they say.”
“You are blinded by vengeance, Ky.”
“So that’s a no?”
He stares at me for a moment. “Kylie,” he grumbles remorsefully, falling flat on his bed.
I get up, upset he’s not as easy to convince as Luke thinks Collins will be. “Don’t worry about it,” I tell him.
He grabs my waist, pulling me to sit back down. “Don’t leave,” he says, scooting closer to me. “Okay. I’ll talk to Sean. I’ll get back to you when you come back.”
I look down at him. He grabs my arm and lays a single kiss against it. My shoulders relax, and I sigh. He was great before, but now that we are together and not trying to push each other away, we feel…amazing. He feels amazing as he kisses me every few seconds―down my arm to my hand. I shiver; the feel of his soft lips is exhilarating.
Kissing my knuckles, he asks, “Are you staying or are you going?”
“What do you want?”
“We already know the answer to that.”
“I don’t. I need you to tell me.”
“I want you to come here so I can kiss you. And I don’t want you to go.”
I lean down, close enough not to kiss him, but to feel his breaths wafting over my lips. “I’ll kiss you when I come back. And I’m not staying in here. I have to go talk to my brother before we leave in the morning.”
“I highly doubt that you will leave this room without kissing me.”
I lean away from him and narrow my eyes. “Are you challenging me, Marc?”
“No, I’m stating facts.”
“I think it’s you who can’t let me leave without kissing me.”
He blinks, looking away from me, then back. “I can’t let you leave…without me.”
I’m left speechless. “You mean that?” I sound like such a girl. Gentle, feminine, and open with my feelings flooding out of me through my look, my touch, and my kiss. One that I’m sweetly placing against his lips after he nods, answering my question. “I love you so much.”
He smiles against my mouth. “I told you, you were going to kiss me.”
“Ooo, you’re good. And I love your smile.”
“I love you without guns, vests, and army suits.”
“When we run away, maybe we can find me a dress that stops at my thighs, or a skirt with a shirt that doesn’t cover my arms. Then we can look like a girl and boy on a date. I can even leave my hair down.” I could keep my hair down around Marc, knowing he’d look out for both of us, and I wouldn’t need to.
“I would love to see you in a dress with your legs out.” He pulls me down beside him.
“So a dress?”
“Yes.”
“What color?”
“Um. Purple, like my eyes.”
“And what will you wear?”
“I want to wear sneakers and whatever you’d prefer to see me in.”
“A collared shirt and some fitted jeans that don’t sag like I used to see boys wear back home when I saw their underwear.”
“Okay. I can do that,” he says quickly with a nod.
I smile wide, lying next to him. “Good.” I love this boy.
Marc and I lie across his bed and stay up talking all night. Talking about everything, talking about nothing
like we are regular teenagers. Not the Vojin, not Creations, not Separations, nothing relevant to why we are here. We make up perfect dates we could spend with each other and pretend to have conversations Creations wouldn’t admit to having. Our future, the one that doesn’t exist. He is completely uncovered. I am uncovered. Our laughter bounces off the walls of his room, and we’re warm with comfort, thrilled by a fantasy I only wish would one day be ours.
Then reality strikes. Tomorrow I’ll be visiting Highrum for the first time. It’s a rarity for any Creation fighter to visit, and I’m nervous. I’ll also be around Arletta’s ominous demeanor again. I’m not sure yet what it is about her, besides her finding joy in other’s suffering, but she gets under my skin.
Chapter Thirty
“You two may want to act like you are excited about being here,” Seits says as we get off the plane.
I yawn, dragging my feet to the transport vehicle. “Are we going to a hotel or something? When is the party? And how long do we have to stay there?”
“Stop whining, Ky. It’s annoying,” Luke says from behind me, walking down the stairs of the plane. “None of us want to be here.”
“As I mentioned, you all may want to at least look happy about it. Even you, Jord.” Jord shrugs. “We have two days here; we are going to a hotel; the party is tomorrow, and we will leave after it is over.”
“Why are we here today if the party isn’t until tomorrow?” I ask with less of a whine so I won’t anger Luke.
Jord throws his duffle bag into the vehicle and crouches to get in. “They want to talk.”
“Talk about what?” Luke asks, following him in. Seits and I are right behind them.
“We don’t know yet,” Jord answers.
“Something important,” Seits seconds.
Something important…Everything here is important.
The Separation Trilogy Box Set: Books 1 -3 Page 52
