Page 49 of Hunted

ADDIE

PARAMORE – HELLO COLD WORLD

Surprisingly, Commander Varco hadn’t been kidding about the beer. There were two kegs and several boxes of pizza littered across the tables of the mess hall when our team hobbled in shortly after being dismissed.

Injuries were immediately forgotten thanks to the welcoming sight, the smell instigating eighteen months of pizzaless longing in the form of drool. Ethan threw himself at a box of pepperoni like a typical carnivorous boy, while I beelined for that sweet, yellow-topped goodness: Hawaiian.

I moaned—obnoxiously and obscenely—as the pineapple flavour touched my tongue.

Ethan, with sauce-stained lips, snorted. “That good, huh?” He laughed.

I met his gaze with nothing but sweet sincerity. “Better.”

Mercy dropped into the seat directly across from me, bearing two plates loaded with every different flavour of pizza on offer. Dakarai and Ace shuffled in beside her, each carting four styrofoam cups filled with warm but wanted beer.

Dak held one out to me, and I took it graciously—and by graciously, I meant that I snatched it with a grin and downed the whole thing in one smooth effort.

Ace whistled appreciatively, tipping his own back equally as quick, then pulverising the cup in one hand when done. “Never pegged you for a party girl, Sinclair.”

“Who said anything about parties?” I quipped back. “When you grow up like I did, you take what you can and claim it quickly so nobody else has a chance to take it from you.”

Everyone froze except me—still munching happily on a fresh slice.

It wasn’t until Eth cleared his throat and muttered, “Well, shit,” that I even noticed them staring.

“Oh, stop it. It wasn’t all bad,” I said around a mouthful of food. “In fact, I got very good at petty theft.” I shrugged.

“Okayyyy,” Dak drawled, eyes wide. “Well, that just begs the question then, doesn’t it?”

My brow lifted, practically of its own accord. “What question?”

“What have you missed the most—that you’re excited to have access to on the outside?” he asked, dark eyes sparkling with mischief.

“The food,” Ace answered immediately, lifting his fourth slice by way of explanation.

“Call of Duty,” Dak answered his own question longingly—like we hadn’t spent the last eighteen months playing it in full immersion.

“Vibrators,” Mercy said straight-faced, eliciting a series of sniggers from the men who undoubtedly immediately conjured an image of her with one in hand.

“Women,” Eth said slowly, an equally slow smile sliding across his face.

Mercy threw her leftover crust at his head.

“What was that for?” He scowled, though he picked it up off the table and ate it anyway.

Heathen.

“What are we”—she gestured between herself and me—“chopped liver?”

Ethan’s smile twisted in a way that promised trouble. Somehow it was still attractive beneath the layers of blood and bruising covering his skin. “New women. More women. Multiple women.”

Dak and Ace nodded appreciatively.

“Women I haven’t already fucked the daylights out of… unless you’re finally offering, Adelaide?” He turned that megawatt grin on me, dragging his fingertips up my thigh playfully—completely oblivious to the fact that my skin prickled in their wake.

I scowled and shoved him off his chair, the table erupting in laughter.

Once he’d picked himself up, snickering, I looked over and met Dak’s eye.