Allied: A Superhero Reverse Harem Romance (The PTB Alliance Book 3), стр. 24
The same city we hoped we would defend some day, too.
No matter how much the cafeteria around us looked like home, it wasn't. Thomaston had plenty of people to protect it, but Yarborough was in the grip of a madman. Maybe it was in the grip of my mad cousin's ghost; which, if that didn't tell you what my life was, I don't know what could. Or maybe there was someone else behind all of it all along.
Our city needed us, the kids who had come to the PTB Alliance hoping to change the world. It was our one chance and I wasn't about to let it slip away. We'd fought aliens, villains, and so many others who had hoped to tear apart our little city, claim it as their own, or kill everyone that resided in it.
What was one more?
Even if it was Scribe.
I took my tray off to the cleaning window, tipped out the chicken bones, and offered it to the dishwashers. They snatched it from me and I nodded at them, then headed for the door. Something clattered behind me and I heard Nishelle's brisk "thank you" as she dropped off her tray, too.
"Strikes, can I have just one minute of your time really fast?" she panted.
I blinked at her, then looked back at the rest of my group. Nate waved me on and I took it as permission. Everyone was suspect, but Nate seemed normal enough. Nishelle, though? I didn't know. We'd only had one chat since she'd come back, one -real- chat, anyway, and it had ended in a fight.
I didn't like that, but I wasn't going to turn her down.
I nodded, offered my hand out to her, and waited. She slid hers into mine and we left the cafeteria together, our steps echoing the empty hallways.
Chapter 9
I had no idea how I was going to tell her. That I had done what I did, that I was responsible for so many things. It was madness.
But I'd only just remembered that I'd done it.
Did that count? Everything had been a haze for so long, I hadn't known up from down or left from right. The world sucked when you were in and out of the Dream constantly, but so much was returning to me after the Clarks had pulled me out the most recent time.
And there were too many things that I couldn't trust to anyone but Cassie.
We walked the length of the hallway, took an elevator to the top floor, and Cassie entered the passnumber into the little pad on the door. What opened before us was a room the size of a thousand basketball courts, decked out in all the latest trendy bullshit. I only knew because I'd stolen a march on my civilian doctor's magazines, but I was impressed in spite of myself. Yarborough didn't have anything like -that-.
"What's up?"
I turned to look at Cassie as the closed, locked, and barred the door. We weren't to be disturbed, though I wasn't entirely certain the others would be so understanding. It had been a long day, everyone was exhausted, and I was certain that they would want to flop down on that soft as hell couch over there and take a nap.
But there were more important things. I sat on the armrest and folded my hands on my knees. "Has it occurred to you that I might not be exactly what I seem to be?"
"Swear to God, if you say you're some kind of weirdo clone or you're not actually Nishelle, I am done," Cassie sighed, coming to lean on the table next to me.
I smiled at that. "I'm me. But there's more to it than that. When Scribe found out I was back, he approached me about something. He wanted me to spy on you; all of you, and figure out what was going on between you four."
"Since when does he give a shit about my relationships?" Cassie asked.
He'd cared more than I wanted to tell her. Hell, I'd befriended her because he'd told me to, originally. She'd been an odder duck in a sea of odd enough already ducks. I'd already been attracted to her, but his encouragement had made our entire life together happen. "He always has... to some extent. But he wanted to know if it was something authentic or if it was just a bunch of friends hanging out."
"He wanted you to spy on us."
I shrugged. "He wanted me to spy on you. I told him no."
Cassie stepped closer to me, looming. My breath caught in my chest, the hair on my arms standing straight up. I looked up into her eyes, so close, and felt a shiver climb my spine.
"Why would you do that?"
Her voice was like fresh caramel; sweet, sticky, and a little too hot. I knew that anger, I understood it, but I had to bring it forward. "Because I love you. Idiot."
And she was on me. Together, we fell into the couch and her lips caught mine in a kiss I hadn't expected. I knew she valued loyalty, but I hadn't thought it would mean so much to her. Reckless, to hell if anyone managed to get through the door, I kissed right back and tore her away from me by her hair.
"Fuck you, Emb," she snarled, clawing at my hands. "Lemme go!"
I sneered at her and pushed her back, peeling her off of me and throwing her into the armrest instead. That flicker of pain shot lightning through her eyes for a brief second, then died and left her smoldering, waiting for me. I wanted to make her suffer, like I had. How long had it been? She'd had her men. She'd had -companionship-.
All I'd had was a