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  Tait nodded, but she made sure to keep her gaze stern and narrowed. I still don’t trust him. And she hoped Alona got the message. “So what do you propose we do to get them back? It sounds a lot more complicated than it needs to be.”

  “Yes and no,” Drone said. “The red tribe is going to come back for you to finish up the job. All they need to do is find the right time. When they take you, I’ll be going with you. On their ship, I’ll steal the Ilotus and then work on figuring out how it runs so we can give you back all of those things you lost.”

  “What do you get in return?” Payton asked.

  “The satisfaction of revenge. I’ve kind of got a list. It’ll be nice to cross off a few names from it.” There was a slight glimmer in his dark eyes and the smallest hint of a smile. Right then and there, Tait knew he was dangerous. No one did anything for free. Revenge didn’t seem like a strong enough motivator, but if that was his true reason then the guy had a lot of issues.

  Swallowing back her discomfort, Tait straightened her posture. “Got it. I’m not quite sure how I feel about all of this, but fine. Anything else we need to discuss? Is this all we’re doing tonight?”

  “There’s more,” Alona said. “I have the suspicion that there is a leak in our group. A number of our missions have been compromised. It seems too many to be a coincidence. Figuring out who it is will be tricky. Along with that, I’ve learned that some of the experimented teens who used to be under our employment are being used by the Rosalotuve. Back home, we would simply make an example of them and be done with it. Earth is much more complicated.”

  “Yeah, killing teenagers is generally frowned upon here,” Drone said. “For now, the law is compliant with things happening in the Alturan war. The experimented teens who aren’t surviving the drug injection are already pushing the limits.”

  Payton gasped. “They know? I mean, the police and stuff know about what we’re doing?”

  “To a point,” Drone said, gazing his way. “There are certain heads of departments who know about the Alturans being here. The other tribes have been trying to work cohesively with these people to try and find the best angle to get the war not only off Earth, but to leave things as unchanged as possible. I don’t think telling the parents of these kids that their loved ones have been murdered by aliens would go over all too well.”

  “Nope,” Tait said.

  Drone nodded. “So there you go. Right now, there’s a good coverup, but only with the promise that the aliens are going to leave, and soon. In a normal war, traitors would be killed or tortured or both. If the kids who are changing sides were to be hurt in any way, alliances on Earth would get broken. Bad idea. We might be inferior humans, but we could still kick some Alturan butt.”

  A quiet scoff left Alona’s lips and she smirked, clearly not threatened. “The last planet we fought on tried to fight back. It was all but decimated.”

  “The last planet you fought on had primitive people,” Drone snapped. “Don’t underestimate us. You’ll regret it.”

  Payton stepped forward. “Don’t threaten her, or you’ll regret it.”

  For a moment, Drone glared at him, his fists clenched. Then his expression softened and he laughed. “Wow…things just got interesting.”

  Tait moved herself between the two young men, putting a hand on her brother’s chest to push him back. “There’s no point in fighting right now.”

  “She is right,” Alona said. “I apologize for insulting your ego.” Tait knew she was holding back a snide comment about men having too much pride. If she’d been with anyone from their team, Alona wouldn’t have bothered to hold back. They must have really needed Drone’s help.

  Clearing her throat, Alona continued. “We are grateful for you bringing all of these things to our attention. I’m sure you understand why we don’t trust you, but at the same time we will take your assistance. The enemy of our enemy is our friend, is that not the saying you have here? As far as I’m concerned, for this particular task, we are allies. We will help you with your mission, but should you try to betray us as well, just know that we have our own contingency plans in place. You will be quite sorry.”

  Drone laughed. “I don’t have a reason to betray you. The green tribe is another story. Helping you helps me bring them down.”

  “Revenge,” Tait murmured.

  “I’ll be in touch,” he said. “One to three days before they take you back, I will contact you. Until then, try to lay low. Just a suggestion.”

  Chapter Eight

  JD dropped Cadence back off at her apartment. She’d said she wanted to talk, yet none of the words she wanted to say would come out. Because talking was her idea, the responsibility of starting the conversation was on her shoulders. Why am I so afraid to tell him what’s on my mind? This is JD. We’re supposed to be best friends.

  Taking in a deep breath, she kept her gaze locked on her building. “I miss you.” That seemed like the best place to start.

  “I miss you too,” he said. He reached his hand out to grab hers, but she pulled away, not ready for that kind of contact. Sighing heavily, he rested his hand on the emergency brake instead.

  “Part of why I broke up with you isn’t just because you couldn’t tell me you loved me,” she whispered. “That was a big part of it. At the same time, I know it’s unfair to punish you for my insecurities. A good girlfriend, or whatever I was to you—”

  “Girlfriend,” he said stiffly.

  Please don’t make this so hard on me. She closed her eyes. “A good girlfriend would have communicated her problems right away. Everything about our relationship was wrong.”

  “No it wasn’t,” he mumbled. “I love you. How can everything about it be wrong if I feel that way?”

  “Because I’m not sure I reciprocate it the same way,” she whispered. She risked glancing his way.

  With wide eyes and a slack jaw, he shook his head. “Now you’re just saying stuff to keep me away from you.”

  “Maybe,” she admitted. “At the time, I thought how much I loved you. You’re my best friend, or you were.”

  “I am! I am!” he insisted.

  She waved her hand in front of her. “The point I’m trying to make is, the feelings I have for you are a lot more complicated than I thought. When we first got together, everything was fine. Outside of us moving so fast, I mean. I was so scared of losing you again. You almost died, and it propelled me forward in a totally different way. The idea of not having you in my life was terrifying.”

  “You’ve told me this before,” he said quietly.

  “But not the rest of this. I mistook those feelings of fear, and turned them into something they weren’t. In the process, I became one of those horrible, clingy, ditzy girls I hate so much.”

  He shrugged. “You were never horrible and clingy. Ditzy wouldn’t have been anything new for you either. I mean, that’s how you were before all of this Altura stuff happened.”

  Cadence glared at him. “You’re not helping.”

  “I’m just saying, you shouldn’t be so hard on yourself for it. Maybe being a ditz, sometimes, is part of your natural, sparkling personality.”

  “Kind of like being a jerk is part of yours?”

  He shrugged. “Whatever.”

  “Ugh, I shouldn’t have even bothered.” She moved to get out of the car. JD grabbed hold of her arm, stopping her.

  “Wait,” he said. “I’m sorry. I’ll listen better. So you were one of those horrible, clingy, ditzy girls you hate.”

  With a great deal of hesitance, Cadence sat back in her seat and gazed at him. “Yes, and the more I thought about us, the more insecure I became. I did all of those things I chide you about and was just like all of your other exes and flings. When I realized I wasn’t any different, I panicked. I want to be different to you. Not the same.”

  “You already are,” he said. “The things I feel for you are a lot stronger than anything I felt for any of them.”

  “But your heart change
s its mind like the wind changes directions. It’s constant.”

  “The wind may change which way it blows, but it does always blow,” he said in a soft voice. “Like, you mention degrees of love or whatever. My feelings for you have always been constant. You’re the only stable friend I’ve ever had in my life. That’s not going to go away.”

  She lowered her gaze. “Even if I said I don’t think I love you romantically, right now?”

  “You don’t love me romantically, or you don’t love how being romantic with me makes you vulnerable?” he snapped.

  Both. “Right now, I just want my best friend back. No pressure to repair things on that level again. We can just focus on being friends, so we can get comfortable with one another again. Because right now, all I think about when I think about you is how insecure I am. I told myself I wouldn’t be desperate or insecure when I fell in love. To me, those things aren’t love. I’ve doubted myself enough in my life. The last thing I want to do is doubt myself whenever I’m with you. That’s all I did. I doubted if you loved me, doubted if I was doing enough to keep you interested in me, doubted if you were going to stay like you promised you would. Then I wondered how many other girls you said that kind of stuff to.”

  He took in a deep breath, and she knew she’d upset him. While his face didn’t express much, his clenching his fists betrayed his emotions. “This isn’t my fault.”

  “I didn’t say it was.”

  “Then stop making it sound like it is. I can’t help that you have all of these issues in your head.”

  Cadence stiffened. “Don’t talk to me like I’m crazy.”

  “I said you had issues, not that you were crazy. Overactive imagination, much? Chill out.” He glared at her. “Look, I get that you weren’t feeling secure. No, I probably didn’t help with it. Don’t vilify me. We both messed up. I got so caught up with the fact that you actually wanted to be with me, I thought everything was fine. When it was just us, you acted like everything was fine.”

  “When it was just us, everything was,” she mumbled.

  “You should have told me it wasn’t when we were apart.”

  “I should have.” She sighed. “It all went too fast.”

  He nodded, which surprised her. She didn’t expect him to agree with her. JD closed his eyes for a brief moment. “I’m out of ideas on how to show you I’m sorry and that I still…I still love you…”

  “Because I need space.”

  “The space makes me feel like I’m suffocating. You being gone is driving me crazy.”

  “I know…”

  Flashing her a weak smile, JD shrugged. “So I’ll try it your way. We’ll be…just friends…even if it kills me.”

  She mustered up a chuckle. “Hopefully, it doesn’t come to that.”

  “Nearly dying brought you closer to me once. Maybe it will again.” He winked. “Kidding! In all seriousness, we will be only friends. We’ll try to go back to normal. No matter what happens. Just do one thing for me.”

  “What’s that?”

  He chewed on his bottom lip. “Tell me if there’s absolutely no chance that you’ll ever take me back so I can work on getting over you. Because until you say it, I’m never letting go.”

  “So long as you’re not just being my friend for an agenda.”

  “No, I’m not. Even if you don’t take me back, I’ll still be here. It’s going to take a lot to get rid of me.” He gave her a childish grin.

  For the first time since they started dating, things actually resembled something normal between them. Cadence thought about nudging him. Instead she just laughed, albeit quietly, and opened the car door.

  “Thank you,” she said. “I’ll…see you later.”

  “See ya.” He waved.

  She got out of the car. Normally, JD would have walked her up to her unit. Tonight, she was glad to have him stay in the car. He must have known that she didn’t want the noble gesture. Not like there was much for her to be afraid of anyway. Despite living in the poorer area of town, her neighbors were respectful for the most part. In all of her life, there had only been two incidents dramatic enough to cause concern. If anyone tried to hurt her, she had mace in her purse, and she always walked with her keys spread between her fingers. She was fine. She didn’t need his protection. It had just been nice to have, once upon a time. Space from him was still something she relished. A big thing had been accomplished between them. He agreed to back off.

  Maybe now we can go back to normal and pretend none of this ever happened. Easier said than done, of course. At night, when she was home alone, she remembered the times he had stayed with her, letting her curl up in his arms. The pain of their separation hurt the most then. He now knew her in ways no one else did—in some cases, even better than she knew herself. Getting past giving so much to him would take some time to get over. Not only did she feel stupid, but she did miss the bond they shared. In the future, she knew better than to treat it all so lightly. She hadn’t expected it to be so strong.

  When she unlocked the door, she found her mother in the living room. “I thought you had work,” Cadence said as she hung up her purse and took off her coat.

  “I did.”

  “I thought you were supposed to be working all night.”

  “I got cut early,” her mother said. “They’re trying to stop me from getting too much overtime. Now that the staffing situation is getting better, my boss is trying to give me some more normal hours. Are you complaining? Should I have stayed out later? Did I ruin any big plans?”

  Cadence shook her head. “No, you didn’t ruin anything. I’m glad you’re home.” A hug from her mother was exactly what she needed. As soon as she was done putting her things away, she went over to the couch and wrapped her arms around her.

  Her mother reciprocated, smiling. “Everything okay, honey?”

  “It’s getting better,” she said honestly. “Just got done hanging with JD.”

  “You two make up?”

  “Not exactly. We’re civil and he’s okay with just being my friend,” she mumbled.

  Raising one of her eyebrows, her mother gazed down at her. “You’re okay with this, right?”

  Cadence nodded. “I’m the one who suggested it.”

  “I figured as much, given the love notes he mailed to the house and how often he called. It’s just…”

  “Hmm?” She was desperate for whatever insight and advice her mother could provide. If anyone knew the answer, it would be her.

  Offering a small smile, her mother stroked Cadence’s hair. “You just can’t go back. That’s all. You might need to accept that your relationship is going to be changed forever.”

  “We’ll be fine. I don’t see why we can’t be best friends again.” Once again, Mom has to be a downer.

  “I’m sure you will,” her mother said. There was a slight tension in her tone. Whatever it was her mom wanted her to understand, she wasn’t picking up on it.

  It might be one of those things I need to learn through experience. Time would only tell how things evolved between her and JD. The transition could be brief, or it could take a long time. Some of his ex-girlfriends got over everything quickly. They didn’t so much as bat an eye at him or his quirky humor. If they could do it, so could she. And I’m not going to let this keep distracting me from my work. Guys just aren’t worth all of the stress.

  Chapter Nine

  “Thanks for the ride home. I seriously was not sure how I would handle all of the awkward if I had to witness JD and Cadence…talking,” Angela muttered as she unbuckled her seat belt. Orlando watched her fumble with the release, amused. She’d been on edge most of the night, and he wasn’t quite sure what to make of it.

  Sitting back in his seat, he leaned against the driver’s side door. “No problem. I appreciate you humoring me with a run to the convenience store for a few minutes. I’m sure by now you’re sick of me.”

  “Only a tiny bit, but you’re probably doubly sick of me.” She giggled.
Why did girls have to do that? It was too cute.

  “Only a tiny bit,” he echoed, smirking at her. “Truth be told, you’re one of the few people I can spend an extended period of time with and not feel homicidal urges. You don’t always have to talk to me, and going out doesn’t need to be some kind of big affair. Two things that are important to me.”

  A small blush crept across her cheeks, and he couldn’t help but be curious as to why. “Even I get tired of talking.”

  “No kidding?”

  She playfully swatted his arm. “You’re one to talk.”

  “And what’s that supposed to mean?”

  “When you get going, nothing shuts you up.” Angela winked and then glanced out the window. “JD is spying on us. What a dork. I’m surprised he’s even home, but I guess that means there’s still trouble in paradise.”

  Orlando lifted his head so he could gaze out of her window. Sure enough, JD was glowering at the two of them through a crack in the living room curtains. Rolling his eyes, Orlando had to resist the urge to put an arm around Angela just for the sake of ruffling JD’s feathers. “He always get this worked up over stuff?”

  “Do I really have to answer that?” Angela raised her eyebrows.

  “I retract my question. You’re right. This is JD we’re talking about.” He stretched, yawning. “Next time we’ll just have to give him something to get worked up over.”

  That comment got a cough and a squeak out of her. “Y-yeah. I guess we will. Anyway, I’ll see you this weekend, for sure. Possibly sooner.”

  “Sooner,” he echoed. “Definitely, because I might need to get out again.”

  Nodding, all the while smiling weakly, Angela got out of the car. She poked her head in. “Try not to be too hard on them. You know, in case they get fed up and ship you off to boarding school or something.”

  “They wouldn’t do that.” He rolled his eyes, but her words struck him harder than he anticipated. Why send me away when they’re not home to deal with me? Unless Mom meant it this time when she said she was staying. Would they send me away so they could have their precious mansion without having to do any of the work of parenting?