Page 97 of The Vixen

Didheinitiate?

“Thorne wouldn’t approve,” Goatee settles on, his gruff voice full of authority. I picture him coming here, having his initiating match with another Keeper. I bet they let him win.

“Is he here? Let me ask him.”

“His room is at the Bastion,” Puffy Cheeks says.

My hands pull my jacket outward as I shrug, eyebrows raising. “Okay, well… Luna said it was cool, and I walked all this way so…”

An acne scar on Goatee’s face shifts.

“Look man, they have people guarding the Keep too. I’m pretty sure there’s a drone on me at all times. If I was stealthy enough to sneak out, I wouldn’t be walking straight up to your front door.”

They exchange another look.

“Come on, I’m gonna be in and out in ten minutes. Send someone over to ask Luna if you want. She’s working, but I’m sure she wouldn’t mind a thirty second interruption so she can tell you what she’s already told me.”

“The Head Keeper is not to be bothered,” Puffy Cheeks squeaks with a little too much energy. Like the suggestion alone makes his pecker flinch. She has these guys by the balls.

A couple moments go by while Goatee purses his lips and thinks. “Ten minutes,” he finally says, and steps to the side.

Liberty is already asleepwhen I get to her room.

She left a lamp on, but I’m certain she’s out by the way she’s situated the blanket between her legs in her sleep. Her nightgown rides up too high, like she doesn’t know there’s a camera in this room. I can’t decide whether or not I should remind her.

As soon as I shut the door, her body tenses, sheer fright snapping her awake. She doesn’t shoot up to see who it is. She just lays facing away from me.

I walk to the bed and sit before taking the folded sheet of paper from my pocket. When I toss it in front of her, she slowly unfolds it. The tension in the room eases as she realizes it’s just me.

She scans the note quietly as she sits up and untwists her legs so she can pull the blanket up over her chest. It took me over an hour to write such an elaborate code just to say Angel has made contact and will be here soon. I had to use nothing but shared history and gibberish to make it uncrackable to anyone but her, so it doesn’t surprise me when a minute passes without her understanding.

Eventually, she gets it. When she lowers the paper, she sighs.

I take it from her and rip it in half. Only the top part has my chicken scratch.

I hand Liberty half the pieces of the note and start putting the other half in my mouth, letting saliva loosen it before I swallow. When all the pieces are gone, I crumble up what’s left, shove it in my pocket, and get up to leave.

“Did it work?” she asks, making me pause. My shoulders bunch as I cringe, and I’m glad I’m facing away so she can’t see my annoyance.

We agreed not to speak indoors. Not about anything important, which is the only thing either of us have to say to the other. Inside, there are cameras. Outside, there are drones. The drones don’t pick up what we’re saying. If they did, Luna wouldn’t need to have me bugged.

I turn to her, schooling my expression.

Did it work?

Yes. Yes, it did.

Luna is strong. She’s smart. I’m convinced she isn’t easily influenced, she can’t be easily swayed.

But… Yeah. It worked. Orit’s working.

Still, I find myself shaking my head. I don’t know why.

Liberty pulls her knees up and frowns. “I guess you’re not as good with the ladies as you thought.”

I blink at her but don’t respond. She never misses an opportunity to insult me. Never. In the last few days, she’s made her hatred for me clear so many times, I’m starting to wonder if it’s herself she’s reminding.

Sometimes, I wish I was strong enough to let her die.