“Except that’s not what’s you’re doing, is it?” When Sable only glares, Viper chuckles. “Interesting. Very, very interesting. The rumor of your ruthlessness isn’t wrong.” He stuffs his hands into his pockets, then readdresses her. “K8 is your name? Don’t worry, K8. I won’t forget you this time.”
K8’s throat tightens.
“Perhaps we could discuss whatever it is you think you know, and how it might benefit all of us, elsewhere?” James asks, so softly the onlookers around them lean in.
We need to leave. We need to leave. We need to leave.The chant goes off like an alarm bell in her mind. But maybe he won’t actually remember her or James. He forgot her once before. He’ll remember Sable, though. They both work for GROW.
“You can’t prove anything,” Sable says.
Murmurs erupt around them. Several people track Oro1, who leans over to whisper something in Sable’s ear before slipping through the crowd.
Viper doesn’t need to answer, but he does. It would have been better if he issued a threat or a warning, but he only says, “See you around, Firelight.”
By the time they make it back to her apartment with the two manupartners in tow and one less Jett, who claimed to have had enough excitement for the evening, K8’s tears have dried. Her fingers idly trace the seams of the couch as a numb sensation spreads through her.
In her living room, James paces while he and Sable, also seated on the couch, argue about damage control. Oro1 leans against the wall, observing. Likely thinking.
“We don’t technically know what he thinks we’re doing,” Sable says.
“He knows exactly what we’re doing,” James says.
“How can you be so sure?” Sable jumps to her feet, like she can’t keep still either.
It’s odd how similar she and James are. Both driven, calculating, focused, passionate, but James isn’t nearly as cold. K8 can see how one might describe the physician as ruthless. Not that K8 thinks Sable lacks emotion. Her emotions are so tightly lidded that she comes across as icy and unfeeling. Would James have turned out like that if he’d been born during her time?
“Can you please just trust me on this? If he didn’t guess exactly what we’re doing, he has a pretty good idea.” James plops down into the seat beside her, placing his head in his hands. “We should have never agreed to use new specimens. Borrowing the ones people turned in for a day or two was far less risky.”
K8’s attention snaps to Sable. “You grew new manupartners for the fights?”
“I was struggling to find good fighters in the pool of recyclables. I have access to the genetic material required to make the kits, so I presented the idea to the team, and we agreed to try it,” Sable says, shrugging like she hadn’t just described being engaged in theft. “I was careful. Once I recycle them, there will be no evidence.”
This is so much worse than K8 imagined. What is the penalty for stealing from a company like GROW? This is exactly what she wantedto avoid. The authorities will find out her involvement and take away her job, her unit, her Worldbank account, the contents of her closet . . . and James. K8 feels the tension in her face go slack. They’re going to get thrown into the social confinement center, and James will become a lab clone before getting recycled. It’s all her fault. She really despises Viper now. Maybe she should get in touch with Sister Xelna and see if there really are curses.
“This was stupid. A bad idea,” she mumbles.
Oro1 clears his throat. “We hadn’t run into any problems until tonight.”
The comment feels like a rebuke. Worse than any chastisement she might have expected about her purchases. Tears prick her eyes, and she can’t stop them from falling down her cheeks. If only the soft cushions would open up and swallow her whole. “Don’t you think I know that?! If I never went with you, he would have never seen me. Then he wouldn’t have noticed Sable.”
“It’s not remotely your fault. It’s ours,” James says, rubbing a hand down her back. “We knew the risks.”
She appreciates the sentiment, but it isn’t true. If it were, wouldn’t her other friends be agreeing with him? Oh, that’s right. FRIENDS. She almost forgot. This is what her life has been reduced to. It only makes her cry harder.
Oro1 walks over and sits down next to her, his body language stiff and awkward. “Please don’t cry.”
She chuckles through her tears. “Why not? James is the only one who thinks it’s not my fault, and that’s because he’s from the past and he likes to take on every burden himself.”
A look K8 can’t interpret passes between the two men bracketing her. Then she feels James’s hand slip away. Why is he abandoning her? Did her words upset him?
“K8, darling. It isn’t your fault,” Oro1 says, drawing her attention. “I didn’t mean to make you feel that way with my comment. If you would prefer that I exit our FRIENDS group—”
James clears his throat. Oro1’s eyes flick past her. She turns in time to see James mouth,I’m sorry.
She almost laughs as she realizes what is happening. Like how James is teaching her customs from his time, he’s teaching her FRIENDS too. A little stunned, she turns back to Oro1 to wait.
“I’m sorry,” he finally says. “May I hug you now?”
K8 leans over into her friend’s open arms. “I appreciate you saying that, Oro1. You definitely may not leave our FRIENDS group, you ridiculous man.”
