No one responds.
PART TWO
18
“The mission was a success. We blew up their weapons warehouse and their training grounds. Now the ILF knows New America doesn’t fuck around.” – Decoded message from New America Captain Kirk Renner to New America’s commanders
Briar
Amira sits down beside me on the ground, the dancing flames of a nearby bonfire casting shadows over her face in the darkness.
“Did you see what I did to Niran’s brows?” She smirks.
“No, tell me.”
“Let’s just say he’s going to look surprised all the time for the next month or so. I left him with little strips of hair at the top and nothing else.”
A much-needed laugh bursts out of me. Marcus left six hours ago in a one-person submarine that was concealed in a dry container beneath the water of a grotto, a narrow inlet of water connecting it to the ocean.
If things went as planned, he’s at Island Three now. I’m worried about whether he made it there safely and if he did, what happened when he got there. Though I plan to sleep in his quarters while he’s gone, I’m not ready to be in there alone yet.
“Poor Niran,” I say, laughing.
“I mean, Savage Spa and Wellness isn’t for bro-dudes. And if he wasn’t paying attention to the amount of hair I plucked—even though he only asked me to do the spot between his brows—that’s on him. He told Chance he only did it for a close-up view of my tits, so karma.”
We’re rationing food due to losing half our supplies, and dinner tonight was underwhelming oatmeal. But Amira’s spark never seems to dull. She can crack jokes no matter what’s going on.
She’s also naturally, effortlessly beautiful, her black hair always sleek and shiny despite the tropical climate.
“Worried about Earthquake Daddy?” she asks.
“Please stop calling him that. And yes.”
“He’ll be fine. Maybe there are boats and helicopters on that island. It might be our ticket home.”
I nod. “If they don’t kill him when they find out his aromium is off.”
With every hour he’s been gone, I’ve thought of more things that could go wrong. I’ve already lost so much; I can’t lose him, too.
“Well, we know he’s great at lying.” She glances at me. “Too soon?”
I laugh because what else can I do? This situation is completely out of my control.
“If we didn’t have an ironclad rule that no one touches the alcohol here, I’d be drunk right now,” I say.
A few bottles of vodka and whiskey are included in every supply delivery because the regime still thinks it’s supplying thesmall team of scientists who came here to monitor the people and animals injected with aromium devices. But Marcus keeps it all locked up, which I understand.
“There’s always that plant Chance and Wyatt smoke sometimes,” Amira says. “They say it’s better than pot.”
I pinch my brows together. “That would knock me on my ass. Also, I can’t light a plant on fire.”
“Oh, right. I wonder if it would actually hurt you, too. Since you feel them and all.”
“I don’t want to find out.”
“Are they chattering at you all the time? Like about how great the sun feels and which bugs are chewing on them?”
I chuckle. “No. There’s nothing at all unless I’m in danger or my emotions are heightened.”
