Page 93 of Immune

It’s a lie. A tiny one this time. A panicked little rat of a lie, racing around the room looking for somewhere safe to hide.

NOVAC.

O’R.

O’Reilly.

Dad.

No. No.

It could literally mean anything. There’s probably loads of words that start with O’R, right? Like, I don’t know, oranges? Oregano. Ornamental pigeons. Maybe the helicopter was carrying very important and detrimental research on decorative sky vermin and I’m just overreacting because trauma seems to have turned my brain into wet cardboard with knives stapled to it.

That seems perfectly reasonable.

I notice Fletcher studying me for a beat too long, so I lift my knife. “Stop doing that with your face.”

His eyebrows pinch slightly. “What face?”

“Oh, please,” I mutter. “The one where you pretend you’re not interrogating me with your cheekbones.”

Ewan makes a small strangled sound, and Xeon looks down at the pilot like he’s kindly pretending he didn’t hear that. Kaito, the bastard, almost smiles. Almost.

Fletcher exhales. “Whatever that cargo is, Vector wanted it badly enough to shoot down a helicopter for it.”

“And now they have a part of it,” Xeon says.

“Which means they’re going to want the rest of it,” Ewan adds. “And possibly anyone who knows what was onboard. Lovely little group.”

Fletcher looks at me. “You still want to walk out alone?”

“Yes,” I say, the word slipping out of my mouth automatically.

Only, I ruin my own stupid, shit-sucking life by not even moving. I literally don’t move an inch. The door is right there. I could leave. I could duck past Fletcher, make for the hatch, and I could vanish through the first crack in the world and never once look back.

NOVAC.

O’R.

Research samples.

My father’s ghost has apparently decided to crawl out of the dirt, only to point directly at a helicopter crash. Great. Fantastic. Really loving this whole family reunion bullshit energy.

Kaito finally stands, slowly and carefully. One hand presses against the wall, not because he’s trying to look non-threatening, but because he’s still hurt and too proud to admit gravity is currently negotiating with him. He doesn’t come closer, though he might as well when he quietly says, “Dakota.”

My name cuts through the room with a slash so brutal that I’m convinced you’ll find me bleeding all over the floor. The other three grow impossibly still. Shit the fucking bed.

I actually see the moment Fletcher hears it. The tiny tightening around his eyes. I catch the way Xeon’s gaze shifts, not surprised exactly, but as if something has been confirmed for him. Ewan’s face flickers with interest, concern, and the rapid knowledge that this isn't a thing to joke about unless he wants me to remove his tongue and use it as a bookmark.

Slowly, I turn on Kaito.

His face tightens, telling me more than words could that he’s made a blooper. A pretty fucking big one, too. Good. I let him sit in it.

“I’m sorry,” he says without excuses, no scrambling to cover his mistake, just an apology. And that seems to annoy me even more.

Fletcher’s gaze moves from Kaito to me before finally asking, “Dakota?”

“No,” I bluntly reply.