Rhett swiped the back of his hand down his cheek.“I don’t think—”
“I need you, Major.”The words stained Blair’s tongue, tacky and bitter.“You’ll be doing me a personal favor.And, more importantly, you’ll be directly responsible for the betterment of the Key.Isn’t that what youwant?”
His temples pulsed.“Yes, of course—”
“Then it’s settled,” Blair said with a clap.“Major Owens, you and I...”She inhaled slowly, letting the lilting words further ensnare the brute.“We’re going to be the best of friends.”
“A powerhouse.”Maxine added silk to the web.
Blair glanced at the sharp lead points jutting out from the vase on her desk.“Rule makers, Major.And wouldn’t you like to make the rules?”
The bright amber of Rhett’s eyes thinned as his pupils dilated.
Blair’s stomach fluttered and her breath hitched as the air around her seemed to tremble.Rhett had stumbled into her web.
XXIX
Stars wiggled overhead as Elodie walked toward the river.Each inch, block, mile that the MAX put between her and Gwen had taken a piece of her with it.Not a bad piece.Not a piece of her foundation.Not a piece that left pain in its absence.The walk had smoothed away the hard edges left behind by her mother’schisel-tippedwords.Elodie had even decided to text an apology to Rhett for leaving him at her house—but not justyet.
A group of girls laughed as they crossed the street in front of her.Their Violet Shields bobbed as the trio hurried to beat the orange light flashing at them from the crosswalk sign.Elodie finally activated her own shield.She wanted to blend, be invisible.
She didn’t wait for the crosswalk sign to illuminate white.Instead, she darted across the nearly empty street, stopping only when she reached Salmon Springs fountain.The way the spray swayed in the breeze, each spout reaching for the next until they were one, until they were touching.How many times had she seen the arching waters and not noticed their beauty?
Sure she was alone, Elodie clicked the button on her cuff and the purple haze around her dissipated.
Elodiewasblind to the real world around her.Aiden had beenright.
Aiden.
Her heart clenched.
Boots pressed heavy against the pavement behind her.“What are you doinghere?”
Elodie stiffened as the familiar footsteps, familiar voice, familiar pine scent, splashed against her back.She had escaped her house, fled to the MAX, to the core of the city, to find freedom and space and—
“Aiden.”Her breath trembled as she turned to face him.The roaring fountain did nothing to drown out the heartbeat thrumming between her ears.“I needed to be alone.”She blinked rapidly but couldn’t keep the tears from spilling down her cheeks.Her numbness faded, and her armor fell in a battered heap around herfeet.
Aiden took a step forward, stiffened, and retreated.“I’m sorry, Elodie.I—” He clenched and unclenched his fists.“I should have...”He sagged.“I’ll leave you alone.”
“Don’t.”The word flew from her lips in a suddenburst.
Aiden’s gaze rested against hers.“I don’t know what tosay.”
Elodie brushed the tears from her cheeks as she dropped onto one of the wide stone benches ringing the fountain.“The truth.”
He took a seat next to her.A gust of pine caressed her as the warm breeze picked up and his jacket fluttered by his sides.“I only know pieces.”
“How can you believe in Eos if you don’t know the truth behind it?”She didn’t try to keep her voice from trembling.
Aiden turned to face her, straddling the bench.“How much of what you think you know comes directly from theKey?”
“Facts are facts,” she said too quickly.
“But whose facts?”He pressed his hands against the stone slab and leaned forward.“Who benefits?”
Silence pawed the air betweenthem.
Aiden was a good person.Elodie knew that.She felt it in the way he spoke to her.The way he looked at her.The way he interacted with the world and the people around him.Kindness clung to him like skin.Not like Rhett and his pretentious,self-importantramblings, or the way he looked at her when she wasn’t wearing the exact right outfit, or how he spokeather instead ofwithher.
