I fall silent for a moment, Cross and Lyddie’s conversation playing through my mind. I clench my teeth as I picture her in his office, consoling him because I “fooled” him.
“I don’t like that he was talking to her,” I grit out.
Xavier grins at me. “Are you jealous?”
“No,” I lie.
“If it makes you feel better, there’s no way Cross would ever be locked on someone like Lyddie De Velde.”
That does, indeed, make me feel better.
“He doesn’t like meek women,” Xavier adds.
“According to Roe, Ivy was meek,” I say, referring to Cross’s ex.
“Nah, Ivy had some backbone. De Velde, not so much. She didn’t impress me during training. She had the scores for Intelligence, but I wouldn’t have wanted her on a mission with me.”
“She passed all the practical sections,” I point out.
“Barely.” He shrugs. “We talked about her. The instructors, I mean. We talked about all of you. Who we’d want having our six on a high-risk op. There were certain recruits that we knew on day one would be assigned to Intelligence. Lyddie was one of them. She was too timid for fieldwork.”
Yes, Lyddie was timid. I suspect that stemmed from insecurity, though. Now that I know how much power her parents wield, I do understand her a lot better. But that doesn’t mean I sympathize with her anymore.
Cross once told me that compassion is weakness. I argued with him, insisting that strength and compassion didn’t have to be mutually exclusive.
But Cross was right. I was wrong.
And I’m not making the same mistake again by having compassion for my enemy.
Chapter 35
I recognize this part of the city. It’s the industrial sector where we ran several mock missions while training for Silver Block, filled with towering factories, sprawling warehouses, and tall smokestacks that release wisps of steam up into the night sky. Normally the area would be bustling, but it’s nearly midnight and everything is deserted.
It’s foggy out tonight, the spring air damp. I find it amusing that everyone still pretends there are four seasons, when autumn and winter haven’t made an appearance on the Continent in decades. Our climate is either mild spring temperatures or scorching summers.
We’re taking two vehicles to our rendezvous with Jasper Reed. Over the comm, Gray directs our car to cut left between two warehouses. Uprising intelligence sent a drone earlier to recon the best sites to position the snipers. That means me, Mako, and Orin. Gray’s personal security detail will be Evlynne.
Mypersonal security detail is Xavier, who insists on sticking to me like glue, except the annoying kind of glue that takes forever to peel off when it gets on your skin.
While Gray and Evlynne veer off in the other vehicle, Mako stops our car to let me and Xavier out.
“This is you, Wrenny.”
I flash him a smile as we slide out of the vehicle, my rifle case slung over my shoulder. Xavier and I climb a rusted metal ladder to the top of the two-story warehouse we’ve been assigned to. Although it’s the middle of the night, machines are still operating because I hear the grinding noises echoing from distant buildings. When I take a deep breath, the air smells like oil and rust.
We hop onto the roof and get in position. There’s a cracked pipe nearby with steam hissing out of it. It clouds my vision for a second, forcing me to readjust so I’m not in its path. I’m about to remove my rifle from the case when Gray’s voice snaps over the feed.
“Change of plans. Darlington, Ford, you’re with me. You’re swapping out with Ev.”
Evlynne’s outraged protest follows fast. “What in the actual fuck, Gray?”
“Reed requested it.”
“Why?” I join into the conversation, genuinely befuddled. Why would he request that? I don’t even know the man.
“He wants to say hello to the lieutenant.” Gray sounds like he’s speaking through clenched teeth.
My head swivels toward Xavier, who activates his earpiece. “What can I say?” he drawls arrogantly. “Everybody loves me.”
