Page 90 of Stormbreaker

My things will be moved later, but for now, I grab a few essentials to get me through the day.

We both exit quietly, saying little as we head toward the library. It’s mostly empty, so we find a corner where we won’t be overheard.

“Tell me everything that happened,” Trinity says. I recount the events of my night—how I was given two choices and when I chose both . . . or neither, depending on how you look at it, they left it up to me.

“But why?” Trinity asks. “Why did you choose Aria?”

I sigh, shake my head. “Partly for me. Partly for you.”

Tears form in Trinity’s eyes. She wipes them with the back of her hand. “You shouldn’t have done that.”

I shrug. “I’d do anything for you, Trin. You know that. And now I won’t have to marry Knox. I hope he’s happy with Winter.”

A line forms between her brows. “But your father—”

“I’ve ruined my family,” I say hoarsely. “I know.”

I tell her about the awful conversation with my mother.

“But they started this. They left me no choice.” I try to say it firmly, like I really believe it. They wouldn’t listen to me, but what if I’ve overreacted? Maybe things would have been fine with Knox. I think about the bruises he left on my arm, reminding myself that despite the consequences, the alternative was so much worse.

Trinity nods, and we’re both silent for a moment.

“You aren’t serious about joining E-squad,” I say, my voice low. “That was just to get you into Aria, right?”

“No,” she says, confusion passing over her expression. “I want to join them.”

“But why?”

“I’m no longer Fiama, and I need to do something.”

“But don’t you want to do something . . . good?” My voice turns a little too loud, and she frowns.

“I am doing something good. I’ll be protecting everyone from the dangers of infected Keepers.”

I shake my head. “Don’t you think what they do is kind of terrible—”

My words cut off as a small group of people enter the library. They wear the dark-red shirts of E-squad recruits, and they’re eyeing Trinity and me.

“Of course not,” Trinity says. “They play a vital role in our Society. A vital role in our new House.”

The reminder is a cold dose of water. I’ve willingly joined the people whose duty it is to deal with people like me. Now I’m living among them, circling a little closer to possible exposure. I might be sick.

I pull my water bottle from my bag and take a long sip, trying to settle my stomach. I have to talk her out of this. Somehow. She’s so much better than those brutes.

I tense up as the E-squad recruits approach, then stop breathing when they stop at our table. A woman stands in front of two men. I recognize her as the same person I saw Trinity talking to not that long ago. I’d completely forgotten until now. She’s tall, lean, with sharp features. Her tank top reveals her sleek arm muscles.

“Robins,” she says with a grin. “We heard you passed last night.”

Trinity nods eagerly. “By the skin of my teeth.”

I wonder what Trinity was asked to do.

The girl claps her on the shoulder. “You’ll be rooming with my girls and me,” she says. “C’mon. I’ll take you there now.”

“Really?” Trinity asks, her eyes widening like she’s won some kind of prize. “Thank you!”

“Of course,” the girl says, her gaze flicking to me while I try not to flinch.