by Lyn Forester
After a pause that lasts long enough to turn the atmosphere in the room awkward, Myrrine spins back to the frame on the wall and turns the air back on. “I think I will go for a walk. Pardon me.”
She sets the fan down, then strides past us and out the door.
I chase after her, Bastian right on my heels. “Myrrine, wait.”
She pauses, her head turned far enough to point her ear in my direction without facing me. “Yes?”
“I’m sorry.” I touch her arm. “I wasn’t thinking. I should have asked first.”
She sniffles, and her hand lifts to her face. “It is nothing. I am fine.”
“If you really don’t want Felix in our room, either, we can go to his room, or somewhere else.” I give her bicep a gentle squeeze. “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”
Her hand covers mine. “No, Felix is welcome. Please, ignore me. I’m overreacting.”
I don’t think she is, but I stay silent as I let her go.
Bastian pats me gently on the shoulder. “Do not worry, Caitlyn, this is something she must come to terms with on her own.” Then his voice drops to a rumble. “Is this new bite asked for?”
My hand flies to my neck. I hoped my hair kept Felix’s affections hidden. I didn’t ask for it exactly, but I knew his intention and didn’t protest, either. Caught up in the warmth of his lips, I would have allowed a lot more. “It was not forced on me.”
“Hmm,” he rumbles, unsatisfied with my evasion, but as Myrrine gets farther ahead, he doesn’t press the issue. “If you have need of protection, we will not be far.”
“Thank you.” I watch them disappear down the stairs before I return to my room, the door closing behind me. “Okay, you. We need to have a talk about your habit of biting.”
“You want more of it?” Felix teases.
I round the corner and find him on my bed, my old folding-port in his hands. “What are you doing?”
“It was beeping.” As if to support his claim, a quiet beep fills the room. “If you really want to keep this thing hidden, you should mute it.”
“I only have one alert active.” Hurrying across the room, I crawl onto the bed and take the device from him. “Rim Jumper must be back.”
“Who’s Rim Jumper.” Then he steals the folding-port off my lap and sets it aside before turning back to face me. Worry pinches the corners of his eyes. “Actually, let’s go back to the bites. Am I taking things too far? You don’t like that? I don’t really plan to do it, but I can try to not do it—”
I press my hand over his mouth. “I’m not telling you to stop. Just maybe not in a place that’s so visible?” Then another realization strikes. “Unless that’s the point? That they be visible?”
Are Felix’s bites a way for him to mark his territory? To alert others that I’m taken? The idea doesn’t entirely displease me, though I still can’t let it continue. It’s one thing to consider breaking tradition and standing up for my right to bed multiple men. Quite another to flaunt it in the face of the public.
Felix pulls my hand down, a wry smile on his face. “I’ve never really considered the placement. Necks are just usually where my mouth ends up.” His gaze skims down my front. “I’m open to other suggestions.”
I bop him on the nose. “We’re still fighting, so no.”
He pouts. “When we’re done fighting?”
My fingers trail over his jaw. “That all depends on you.”
He licks his lips, eyes shifting from mine down to my mouth and back again. “You’re making it difficult to give this serious thought.”
I drop my hand to the bed. “Then maybe us being alone right now is a bad idea.”
“Yeah.” Reluctant, he scoots to the edge of the bed. “Let’s go find Connor. Him being around will cool my head. Nothing kills a mood faster than my brother being in the same room.”
My folding-port dings again, reminding me of the message, and I grab my satchel off my desk to shove the device inside. It’s a tight fit, the bag not designed to carry anything larger than our tablets. To anyone looking, it will be obvious I’m hauling around something much heavier. It almost makes me reconsider taking it from the room, but curiosity gets the better of me. And I’d like Connor’s thoughts on Rim Jumper as well.
Felix pulls out his palm-port as we walk. “Actually, let’s go to Dec’s room for some privacy. I’ll tell Connor.”
“Dec’s room?” I settle the strap of the bag on my shoulder. “What about Trevor?”
Distracted, Felix glances over at me. “Who?”
“Declan’s roommate?” I say with exasperation. “Your project partner?”
“Oh, him.” He tucks his palm-port back into his pocket. “Won’t be a problem.”
Down the hall, Connor steps out of his room and peers in our direction. He waits for us to join him. “What’s going on?”
“Shh.” Felix holds a finger to his lips, eyes sparkling with mischief. “Wait until we’re in private.”
Felix leads the way to Declan’s room and raps sharply on the door. It slides open after a brief pause to reveal Trevor. His eyes skip over us before they settle on Felix. “Declan isn’t here.”
“No shit.” Felix jerks a thumb over his shoulder. “Scram.”
I wince at his bluntness, feeling bad for kicking the guy out of his own room, but Trevor just looks resigned. “How long?”
“Give us an hour.” When Trevor turns to go back into his room, Felix motions for us to follow. “Watch your step. This guy’s a slob.”
When we venture farther inside, I see what he means. Clothes lay strewn across the floor, the doors to one dresser open with uniforms spilling out.
“Hey, what did I tell you about messing up Dec’s side of the room?” Felix demands as he kicks clothes away from the neatly made bed on the left.
“I was going to clean up when he got back,” Trevor mumbles as he gathers his tablet and satchel before he heads for the door. “Don’t do anything weird on my bed.”
“Like we’d touch that cesspool!” Felix yells after him. “Work on our report while you’re gone! I’m not writing the whole thing for you!”
Trevor nods without speaking and vanishes into the hall.
As soon as the door swishes shut, Felix throws himself on Declan’s bed, one arm over his eyes. “Ugh! That guy irritates me so much!”
Connor shoves his legs to one side to make room and settles on the bed. “Why don’t you just trade rooms with him?”
“Don’t you think I tried?” Felix sits up to shove one of the pillows against the back wall. “My roommate was on board until he saw the state Trevor keeps his side of the room in. Then, he flat out refused. Wouldn’t even accept a bribe. Asshole has more backbone than Trevor and won’t budge.”
I glance around the room. A clear divide down the center shows where Declan’s cleanliness meets Trevor’s mess. Despite the school’s restrictions, knickknacks cover Trevor’s desk, while empty jars and food containers roll around on the floor next to his bed.
The vent overhead works overtime, filtering the air so at least it doesn’t smell. It looks like Trevor spends all of his free time in here, and I rack my memory.
Have I ever seen Trevor in the cafeteria or Entertainment Hall? Outside of the forced time he spends in the Library working on his joint project, does he just hole himself up in here?
With a shudder of disgust, I keep my feet on Declan’s side of the room. “Someone should report this. It’s unsanitary.”
“Oh, Dec has.” Felix pats the space of bed between him and Connor in invitation. “They’ve come in and cleared out the empty containers a couple times already and put Trevor on level-two probation. But since he holes up in here all the time, he doesn’t care about the restrictions. He’s on his second warning so far.”
As first years, we start out on probation, which just means we don’t have full access to the school. But level-two probation locks us out of the Entertainment Hall, too.
Passing C
onnor my bag, I scoot into the space between the twins. “What happens when he hits number three?”
“He’ll be sent home for a semester, and his family will be fined for cleaning up after him.” Felix crosses his fingers in front of himself. “So close.”
“He has to receive all three warnings within a hundred-day period,” Connor points out, obviously having studied the school manual, the nerd.
“Bro,” Felix protests. “Don’t burst my bubble.”
“If he gets suspended, you’ll have to write your paper alone,” I add.
“You, too, Sprinkles?” Felix leans his head on my shoulder. “I’d happily write the paper by myself if it came to that, but Dec will be back before then.”
“You realize Dec’s useless for research, right?” Connor passes me my bag. “Just resign yourself to doing the paper alone.”
“I’d rather fail.”
“Don’t say that.” I elbow him in the side. “If you’re put on level-two probation, you’ll miss the summer races.”
“Can’t let me rebel even a little, can you?” Felix straightens. “Okay, let’s see this message that’s so important you set an alert for it.”
“Rim Jumper is the one who sent me the map.” I pull my folding-port out of my bag and lift the screen to reveal the bright red wheels of my old disc-bike. “I messaged him when our first search failed.”
“What are you guys talking about?” Connor cuts in. “Who’s Rim Jumper? And what map?”
Felix and I give him blank looks before Felix nudges me. “Sprinkles, didn’t you tell him?”
I turn to stare at him. “Didn’t you?”
He shakes his head, messy black hair falling across his eyes endearingly. “Our time is our time.”
“Oh.” That surprises me because Felix has always seemed so open to sharing everything. I just assumed whatever we did together the others would soon know.
One side of Felix’s mouth kicks up, but it doesn’t mask the hurt in his eyes. “Have more faith in me.”
My heart twists. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have assumed.”
His gaze softens. “I think we’re both guilty of that.”
“Then we should both do better.” I clear my throat, pulling my attention away from him before I’m tempted to close the short distance to his lips. Connor’s warmth on my other side reminds me we’re not alone, and there’s a reason for that. “I’m sorry, Connor, there’s been a lot going on. I didn’t mean to not tell you about this.”
With an expression of understanding, he grabs my hand, sending a rush of calm through me as only he can. “I know. It’s okay.”
Felix leans forward to frown at his brother. “What do you know?”
Connor glances at him. “What happens between me and Caitlyn stays between us.”
Felix flounces back, arms over his chest. “That’s so not fair.”
We ignore him as I press my palm to the screen of my folding-port. “So, a couple days ago, I received a message in the racer forums from a new member, Rim Jumper. He sent me a map with what he said is a new racetrack. I didn’t recognize it at first, but then when I was outside taking a walk with Nikola, I realized I was looking at it wrong.”
Beside me, Felix stiffens at the mention of me being alone with Nikola, but he stays silent, for which I’m grateful. With everything else going on between us, we don’t need to add unwarranted jealousy to the mix.
I tap the screen to pull up the forum and the initial thread from Rim Jumper. Connor and Felix lean in to read the message.
“Ballsy asshole,” Felix mutters after a minute. “He’s obviously trying to lure Sparks out to some secluded location.”
That thought hadn’t actually crossed my mind, and I reread the message myself.
Found a new racing path I think you might like to take a look at. It will take your breath away.
I glance at Connor. “What do you think?”
He skims over the message again. “I’m not sure. Could be a rabid fan. It’s hard to say.”
Reaching out, he moves the screen down to read my response.
Rim Jumper, haven’t seen you in the forums before. Tell me more about this new racing path. The map isn’t pinging for me.
“Why did you even bother responding?” Felix demands after he reads the new message. “You never replied to fans before.”
I turn to study his tight expression. “How do you know that?”
“Because he sent you a bunch of messages,” Connor murmurs as he scrolls farther down to see Rim Jumper’s response.
“Hey!” Felix pushes upright to glare at his twin. “What happened to what happens between us stays between us?”
“That’s for Caitlyn, not you.”
Felix presses a hand over his heart, wounded. “Bro.”
Connor’s amused gaze flickers toward him. “Declan tells me all your secrets, too.”
“No, he doesn’t.” Felix rolls to his knees to lean over me. “Tell me he doesn’t.”
“In horrifying detail.” Connor’s focus shifts to me, and his eyes widen. “I know things, Sparks. Things no brother should ever know.”
Felix reaches across me to jab at Connor. “You’re lying!”
Amused, Connor rubs his chest where Felix poked him. “Ask him if you don’t believe me.”
“I will!” Felix whips out his palm-port, thumb swiping the lock screen open before he freezes, then slumps back onto the bed. “When he gets back.”
“He still hasn’t responded to any of your messages?” Concern fills me. Declan hasn’t responded to any of mine, either, but somehow, I thought Felix would find a way to get through to him.
Felix shakes his head, his lips an unhappy twist.
Connor leans against me more firmly. “I even tried reaching out as a demi-Councilor to see if I could reach him as a secretary. No luck. His house is on lock-down until Councilor Arrington recovers from his ailment.”
I shiver, anxious by proxy. In our world, very little is incurable with the right physician, and House Arrington would have brought in the top Rothven doctor to oversee Declan’s brother’s treatment. The halions have medicines far superior to what humans have been able to create. If even they failed, it must be bad.
“You don’t think it’s contagious, do you?” I whisper, unable to look at either brother. “If it were forest fever, the High Houses would have been informed, right?”
Of all the sicknesses, forest fever is the most feared. Native to our planet, it took down thousands of people, both halion and human, before the city walls were built high enough to block out the toxic forests. Sometimes, reports still come in from the lower regions of a new outbreak sweeping through the level, and lock-down goes into effect, travel on and off the level restricted until the fever is contained. With such close living quarters, it can’t be allowed to spread to the other levels.
But no cases of it have been reported above Level 6 in over a hundred years.
“It’s treason not to report forest fever.” Felix cuddles closer to my side. “His brother has always been sickly. It’s why their parents were granted the leniency to have a second child. There’s always been a risk Dominick would die.”
That doesn’t ease my conscience at all. What other reason could they have to put the entire Arrington household on lock-down?
The Price of Silence
In the now somber atmosphere, Connor reaches for the screen. “What’s the next message?”
I haven’t read this one yet, either, and curiosity helps push aside my worry for Declan.
First comes my last response to Rim Jumper. Indeed, the stars are bright, but all I see is green.
Below that is Rim Jumper’s response. It’s always better to race with friends. Tri to find someone of worth.
“What the fuck does that even mean?” Felix glares at the screen. “Why’s this guy being so cryptic?”
“Maybe he’s worried someone else will read the message. Let’s look at the map.” Connor taps the smal
l attachment icon on the first message, and the map opens to fill the screen.
Frowning, Felix leans closer. “What is that?”
“A star-map, I think.” Connor tilts his head. “I’ve seen them in history books. Our ancestors used them to travel through space. And the historians use them to estimate when the next Vortex will open.”
The Vortex that grabbed our ancestor’s ship, and the halion ship from another location in space, and flung them onto this poisonous planet almost nine-hundred years ago. Every one hundred years, it opens, and our scientists try to send a signal through, to let those we left behind know where to find us.
So far, their efforts have led to failure.
“Why would someone send Sparks a star-map?” Confusion fills Felix’s voice. “Every level has the same star pattern at night. It’s useless.”
“It expands.” I draw a circle on the screen to rotate and separate the layers, revealing the odd blankness of the level map beneath. Where spokes and sectors should denote a normal city level, only a large circle with four smaller ones mark the second layer.
I hold my breath, waiting to see if one of the twins sees what I missed at first.
After a moment, Felix lets out a quiet, “Ah.”
I shouldn’t be surprised he figured it out so quickly. He’s proven his superior intelligence time and again when he bothers to put forth the effort.
He hums quietly and sits back with a self-satisfied smirk.
With a glare, Connor takes off his useless glasses and pulls the folding-port onto his lap to study it more closely. He notices the faint glow on the largest of the inner circles and zooms in.
Rectangles take shape to form a circle, and Connor glances at us. “Is this the school?”
I nod and zoom farther until the map narrows in on the small square illuminated by a ring of light. “And that’s the field between the school and the administration building.”
“But we went there and didn’t find anything,” Felix adds. “It’s just grass.”
I turn toward Felix. “So, you agree now that I had us in the right spot?”
