Now her cheeks really burned. “I don't need to be.”
“We both know he doesn't love her. Don't let her get to you.”
“She's not trying to get to me.”
“People know even when they don't know what it is they know. I think she knows to be jealous of you. She just doesn't know why. So like I said, don't let her get to you.”
“Thanks,” she said softly.
Kira settled against a large, plush pillow, smoothing her skirt down. Mellie took Zayne's hand and reclined on the ground beside Kira. Adelle stood by herself, and Kira wondered what she and Zayne had talked about.
Brock sat last, on Kira's side, but not too close. Just enough for Mellie to grin.
The lights turned off, and within minutes the sky darkened. Creamy sprays of stars clustered into pictures waiting to be painted, shining through the darkness. The city had shut down, letting them see all the light normally hidden from them.
Joy crackled through the turmoil and pulled her back into who she knew herself to be. Smiling, she sank into the pillow, searching the kind of night sky she usually only saw in pictures.
Did everyone else find it as marvelous as she did? Brock looked peaceful, staring up at the sky, but Adelle was too far to make out. Beside her, Mellie smiled widely. And Zayne… She'd never seen that look on his face before. Not peace like Brock, but something else. Rest.
He liked the stars, didn't he?
A white streak raced through the sky, and Kira covered her mouth. She'd never seen a shooting star before.
Two more followed. She couldn't look away, or she'd miss one. Every few minutes came a handful of white streaks. Soon, when the atmosphere ate up countless meteors, each one wouldn't draw their eye. Instead, they'd marvel at the sight of so many shooting stars taking over the sky. But right now, Kira wanted to capture every single white line.
A blink, and they were gone.
The stars shot rapid fire now, so many of them. Though she knew they'd never light the sky enough to consume the night, she couldn't help hoping. Hoping that even with how quickly they vanished, they'd destroy the darkness of the capital.
Then, high in the sky with stars falling, deep red exploded in a cloud.
Another burst.
Another.
Pixi Dust tunneled through the sky in an unseen hand, writing for all of Kallum to see. Trembling started in her hands and spread to the rest of her body.
HE LIES
They did it.
Her friends got her message and figured out how to use the drones.
Kira never imagined they'd do it in time for the meteor shower, but they managed to write in the sky the one night everyone stepped outside to watch, even the family of the High General.
SEIZE YOUR LIFE
Everyone was sitting up, staring at the Pixi Dust while the stars flew through the sky and fizzled out. But those dusky red letters remained, burning too bright not to see.
FIGHT
The last word, Kira added because of Zayne. Because of her captivity. Because even though she was right when she said they grew up in war and knew fighting, it didn't mean they chose to. All those soldiers too afraid to risk their families could take the opportunities for small acts of defiance. The workers in the manufacturing district could cause delays with weapons and ammunition. People needed to seize their lives, but they also needed to fight once they did.
“What…” Mellie covered her mouth, voice catching.
Then Kira felt the eyes on her. She met Zayne's stare, and her lungs locked at the reprimand she knew she'd see. The rage that she used her drone to endanger herself and everyone connected to her like this.
But his look carried no anger. No fear disguised as rage.
