“What do you want to ask me?” I say to Brazen to break the awkward silence.
He takes a step closer, and I sit down on the stool as Hale returns with a shirt on. He walks over to wrap his arms around me very possessively, and Brazen tightens his lips before speaking in his more serious voice.
“Herman Snakes. Have you heard his name before?”
“I have, actually. He’s one of their mercenaries. I didn’t know we had a picture of him,” I murmur while taking the photo from his hand.
“How do you know that?” Hale asks curiously while staring at the picture.
“Because they sent him after me when I got too close.”
“What?” Brazen gasps. “When? Why didn’t I know?”
“It was about four months ago, but I didn’t want you to know because I knew you would take a leave. I didn’t want you fucking up your career to stay at home with me.”
“What happened?” Hale prompts.
“Brazen was out on a two week detail, and I was at home reading a book. This fool was hiding under my bed just waiting on his chance. I pretended to be engorged in the book, and the moment he emerged I went invincible. He shot three times, and he freaked out when they just ricocheted off me. I arrested him, and he stayed locked up for three months until the Stringham prison break. He was one of the five not recovered.”
“And you didn’t think to mention this until now?” Brazen growls in a chastising tone.
“I have compiled a file on everything I have that wasn’t destroyed in Javeline, and I planned on passing out the copies during the meeting. See, there they are,” I mutter casually while pointing at the table beside the door.
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Did you tell me about everyone that tried to kill you while we were together?” I counter.
“No, but-”
“But nothing. I’m an officer of the United. Shit happens, and I’m badass enough to handle it when it does. Now, I’m going to go put on some clothes.”
I start to walk out, and Alex takes a seat between the smoldering Hale the fuming Brazen whose eyes are still scolding me.
“I need to know what this symbol is. It’s similar to your hybrid tattoos, but it’s different as well,” Alex murmurs while letting her breath trail on Hale’s arm.
I roll my eyes as I shut the door, and I hear whispering behind the door. Why are they whispering?
I stare in the mirror at the laser tattoo between my shoulder blades that I can barely see from this angle. My sparrow separates me from so many, but Hale’s matching one connects us. The sparrow is given to the gifted only. I smile lightly at the mark that proves me different before slipping into a pair of pants and a strapless top. I open the door to rejoin the whispered conversation, and I catch concerned, secretive eyes looking away.
My tight, dark jeans are tucked smoothly into my black boots, and my tight, strapless shirt reveals just enough cleavage to draw Hale’s eyes to a popping motion, leaving his secretive gaze in the back.
“What are we whispering about?” I murmur while strolling my lips over the back of Hale’s shoulder blade where his matching sparrow lays hidden under the soft fabric of the shirt.
He smiles when he feels what I’m doing, and then his hand strokes the place where mine rests. He pulls me into his arms, and then I stare down at the sparrow emerging from a cocoon.
“That’s odd,” I muse.
“We’re keeping it quiet in case anyone is listening in,” Alex whispers.
“You don’t trust the walls here?”
“I don’t trust anyone,” she asserts. “You shouldn’t either.”
“There are three people within the United I would trust my life with at any time,” I counter, and Hale and Brazen both smirk.
If Clay was here, he’d be smirking too.
“I’m not talking about the United. I’m referring to the people of Selma. We don’t want to spook your lead.”
