Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 110757 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 554(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110757 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 554(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Marcus turns to look around, Nova approaching us with a stern expression.
“I fucking did that,” he mutters, sounding stunned.
I go back to him and take his hand, holding it firmly.
“You guys okay?” Nova asks.
“Yeah, what about everyone else?” Marcus calls.
“I don’t know. No one around me was hurt, but we need to see how big the crack is.”
“It’s my fault.”
Nova shrugs a shoulder. “Maybe. Could’ve been an earthquake.”
“It wasn’t.” He releases my hand, scrubbing his palm over his face. “Fuck. I could’ve killed someone. I might have, we don’t know yet. Someone could still fall in and die.”
“I’ll put out a shelter-in-place order,” Nova says. “We’ll assess damages and make sure no one can fall in.”
He lowers his brows, looking skeptical. “It looks like it spans the whole fucking camp, Nova! How can we keep people from falling in?”
“Marcus.” I move to stand in front of him, putting a palm on his chest. “You have to stay calm.”
He nods, sighing heavily. “Okay. You’re right.”
“Go straight to your room and stay there until I come get you,” Nova says to him before looking at me. “And you go with him.”
“Me?”
“You. Neither one of you is coming out until you’ve worked out your shit. Until then, I’m the acting camp leader.”
For a couple of seconds, neither of us responds. Then I nod numbly.
“You’re right.”
Marcus looks pained, his fingers threaded together on top of his head. “I’m so fucking sorry.”
“You didn’t mean to do it,” Nova says. “Now go, both of you.”
I make my feet move, Marcus beside me. I can’t look at him. Not yet.
This isn’t just between me and him anymore. Through his endolithic connection, he could destroy the entire island with a single bad mood.
Strong emotions seem to set off his power, so we have to talk things out calmly.
Unfortunately, the combination of me and Marcus has always been anything but calm.
14
“All borders in the northwest quadrant are closed until further notice. Only Level One Command may cross borders until I lift this order. We’re moving in to choke out the rebellion.” - Excerpt from a message from New America President Soren Whitman to all military officers
Marcus
I close the door behind Briar, slide my pack from my back to the floor, and sit down in a chair at the table in my small front room. Leaning forward, I put my elbows on my knees and my face in my hands. She’s always been the weak spot in the armor of my self-control, but I can’t believe I’m destroying camp over it.
“Don’t spiral over what just happened,” she says softly. “It wasn’t your fault.”
I huff and sit up straight, shaking my head. “It was, though. I know that’s in me and I lost control.”
“Can you handle talking about us?”
Before I met her, I was an emotional vault. Robo Marcus. Grouchy at times? Yes. But I didn’t mess around with any of the women in my camp, ever, and I was fine with it.
Now I’m a live wire, firing sparks in her presence that could burn down everyone and everything in the vicinity. My powerful feelings for her make me a dangerous liability instead of a steady leader.
“Yeah,” I grumble. “We can talk, but it’ll help if I can’t see you while we do it.”
Just looking at her sets me on fire; it fills all my hollow parts I didn’t even know were empty.
She takes my idea in stride. “We’ll sit back to back.”
I get up as she grabs the back of a chair.
“I’ve got it,” I say.
She puts her palms in the air, not meeting my gaze.
I set the two chairs back to back, then dig through my pack for my canteen and take a long swig.
“I’ve never needed a shower so damn much,” I say. “Sorry about my smell.”
“It’s fine.”
I always showered before we went to bed. Sometimes we even showered together, saying it was to save water when really it was foreplay. I loved standing behind her, her back to my chest as I washed her body, my hands finally roving to the places I’d fantasized about every time I looked at her that day.
She’s sitting, and I make myself look at anything but her as I walk to the other chair and sit down in it.
“If you start to feel ... you know, intensity, tell me,” she says.
“I’m not a bomb that could blow at any second. I just can’t look at you without feeling anything. If we do it like this, I’ll be fine.”
I have to be. We’ve got enough problems on this island without me causing ground-splitting earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. I’ve got to learn to harness my feelings for Briar.
“What do you feel when you look at me?” she asks.
I exhale softly. “Regret. Desire. Anger. Jealousy.”
“Talk to me about the regret.”
I shake my head, unsure where to even start. “I’m not good at this.”