Is she colluding with the enemy, or is the enemy working with us?
Who else knows about it?
What the fuck is going on?
I don’t know who to ask. Does Gray know? Does the Authority? Am I the only one who’s not in the loop? And in the event that Graydoesn’tknow, I don’t want to just blurt it out. This information is too delicate to reveal without thinking it through first.
Gray sends me a message, but I’m not ready to talk to him, so I don’t respond. I’m not ready to be inside my quarters, either, and although it’s the middle of the night, I go out to the Ledge, staring at the dark treetops and star-streaked sky.
I’m not certain how long I’m sitting there before I hear the sucking noise of the air lock sliding open.
“Wren?” It’s Gray, of course.
“How did you know I was out here?” I hope he doesn’t hear the dull note to my voice.
“When you were ignoring my comm, I checked the cameras.” He strides toward me. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Bullshit.” He remains standing, looking down at me. “Why are you out here? Adrienne says the op went smoothly.”
“Yeah, I think it did.”
If rendezvousing with the General of the Continent can be consideredsmooth.
“Then what happened?”
“Nothing,” I insist. “Just personal shit.”
That earns me an incredulous laugh. “All the more reason to tell me. Things with us are as personal as they get.”
He’s not wrong, but…
“Wren,” he says in frustration.
“Trust me, you don’t want to talk to me about this.”
“How about you let me decide that? You’re upset. I want to know why.”
I tip my head to meet his eyes. “Cross is with somebody else.”
He freezes.
Something passes through his expression. Something dark and unhappy.
“See?” I sigh, twisting my face back to the trees. “I told you. You don’t want to be the person I talk to about this.”
Gray is silent for a while, but he doesn’t move. When he speaks, his voice is strained.
“You loved him.”
It takes me a long time to answer. “Yes.”
“I thought it was just a physical thing. Sneaking in and out of your quarters when we were in Silver Elite. Casual screwing.”
I slowly shake my head. “No, it was deeper than that.”
He scoffs. “Right. Cross Redden is deep.”
