“Denied,” she said without hesitation.
“Cold. I like it,” Jaden grinned.
Eve rolled her eyes, stepping past him. “There’s already another soldier on my radar.” Her voice lowered.
Jaden’s brows lifted exaggerated. “Tall, brooding, emotionally constipated?”
Eve didn’t respond, but the corner of her mouth twitched, before her eyes locked in on me.
What in the hells was I doing? I shook my head as if trying to wake myself up and continued walking.
“Let’s go, we’re falling behind,” I muttered to them when even Nate passed me.
Jaden hummed off to the side, glancing deliberately towards Lionel, who was inspecting a collapsed rooftop like it was a puzzle he could solve by glaring.
“Nope,” Jaden muttered cheerfully. “Still zero reaction. He’s got ice in those veins.”
“He’s focused,” Eve replied, though her voice softened around the edges. “And… still figuring stuff out.”
Jaden softened too. “Yeah? Well. I’ll keep annoying you until he thaws.”
“Good luck with that,” she said blankly.
He winked. “Luck is my third middle name.”
“What are the first two?”
“Danger and Hot.”
She snorted. “Please trip over a rock, and pull Nate down with you.”
When we finally gathered again, we decided the rest of the squad would guard our backs, posted in the middle of town while Malakai and I scouted around nearby, keeping ourselves in their line of sight in case anything decided to appear.
Malakai and I ran off, competing over who would find a target first… but mostly racing each other for fun.
He jumped a crumbling fence first.I slid under a fallen beam faster.He smirked and vaulted through a broken window, but I created a fire cage around him when he landed, keeping him locked down until I was on the other side, tapping his shoulder and rescinding the flames.
“That’s cheating,” he accused.
“That’s clever use of resources,” I corrected, breezing past him.
He rushed ahead, boots skidding across the grey sand. “You’re adorable when you think you’re winning.”
“Iamwinning,” I said, slipping through a narrow crack in the walls, to get back into view of the others again.
He came through a heartbeat later, pressed too close, grin sharp and wicked.
“We’ll tally points later,” he murmured. “I like long games.”
Heat flickered up my neck. I shoved him lightly and took off again, his laughter chasing me.
When we got back to the others, Nate was standing against a wall, pale, sweat covering the sides of his face.
“Alright,” Malakai muttered, stepping in. “That’s enough.”
Before Nate could protest, Malakai easily tossed him over one shoulder.
“Hey! No, I can walk!” Nate sputtered, kicking the air.
