Page 28 of Ember Rising

She moves toward the door, every foot she puts between us feeling like a mile. Being alone is painful, but so is loving people. It’s just a different kind of pain.

Her hand is on the doorknob when she turns to look at me, tears shining in her eyes.

“You’re wrong, you know. You’re every bit as strong as I am. I wish you could see yourself through my eyes.”

I lose my place in the preamble translation, grappling for something to hold me in place for just a few more seconds.

“Be safe.” I blink back a fresh flood of tears. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

She opens the door and walks out, not looking back. And somehow, I know my effort to reassure her that I’m okay failed spectacularly. My open heart makes it easy for people close to me to know when I’m lying.

I wish I could tell her it’s for her own good.

10

“The mission was a success. The smoke provided the cover we needed from the surveillance drones. At least, I hope so.”

– Sapphire, Mallory Network member

Amira

I finally slept last night, and it helped.

After Marcus and Briar left, I asked Eli to assign me a job to keep me busy, and he asked me to go through the bows and arrows they have and identify what’s usable and what’s not.

It turned out to be exactly what I needed. I restrung bows, waxed strings, and repaired arrows for almost twelve hours, only taking breaks to eat and use the bathroom. Olin and another ILF guy, Rich, helped me, and we accomplished a lot.

Briar is gone, and I need to make the best of things. I meant what I said to her about building goodwill with the ILF. It won’t be easy, but if I can stay hidden until I get to the next ILF base, I should be safe there.

I’m supposed to meet Evander in one of the training rooms, but this place is so massive that I can’t find him. When I reach the end of yet another hallway with a door at the end, the woman standing there looks up from her clipboard at me, her gaze quickly landing on the bow I’m carrying.

“Here for the immersion training?”

“No. I mean, I don’t think so. I’m supposed to meet Evander.”

“Evander ...?” She gives me a questioning look.

“I don’t know his last name, but how many Evanders are there here?”

She shrugs. “I don’t know what to tell you. No Evanders in this room.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

I turn around and go back the way I came, reminding myself of the pros this place has.

Air-conditioning. No mutant animals. Hot showers. Apple fritter cake.

That last one blew my mind at dinner last night. Vadim, the chef in our camp on the island, did his best with what he had, but there was very little sugar. They don’t serve dessert here every night, but when they do, I get a little too excited.

I try another area, finding most of the doors locked. Finally, a door opens, and I see around two dozen people doing push-ups.

The one person in the room who’s standing is a man in camo pants and a black T-shirt. He barks out, “Thirty seconds!” before turning his attention to me.

“I’m looking for Evander.”

“I think he’s in room eight. Two doors down.”